When Hillary Clinton took the stage in Las Vegas for the third and final debate, donning a white pantsuit that looked like it was taken directly from Princess Leia’s costume trailer on the set of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, she was grinning from ear to ear – likely confident that victory was less than three weeks away. But behind the cheesy grin and sci-fi pantsuit loomed a much darker and sobering reality: Is there anything that Hillary Clinton, and her followers, are actually passionate about?

The Enthusiasm Gap Starts With Hillary

Whether you’re building a company, playing a sport, or running for public office, your efforts have to be grounded in passion.

You’ve probably heard a lot of enthusiasm this election cycle. Actually, you’ve probably experienced it firsthand on social media and television, at rallies and debates, and in coffee shops and offices.

There’s always a healthy amount of enthusiasm in an election cycle, especially when there is no incumbent running, but this year has been different. On both sides of the party line, major outsiders have taken center stage. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders on the left and businessman Donald Trump on the right.

From the very start, both of these candidates made it clear that they were looking to shake up Washington and create change in political circles that have become characterized by quid pro quos and backscratching. While Sanders and Trump couldn’t be more starkly opposed on their policies and issues, they have both been able to amass huge amounts of enthusiasm and passion based on one common principle: change.

Then there’s Hillary Clinton. Bland, poised, cold, calculated Secretary Clinton. She is the political system that Sanders and Trump have been vocally denouncing. She is everything that’s wrong with Washington. She is the queen of quid pro quos and backscratches. She is all of these things. But if there’s one thing she’s not, it’s passionate.

While Clinton supporters will quickly get defensive when being relayed this message, the vast majority will find it impossible to name one thing she’s actually passionate about.

The first thing you’ll hear people say is, “Oh, but Hillary is super passionate about helping children.” Why then did she laugh off the rape of a 12-year-old girl in 1975 when she defended her 42-year-old assailant?

“Oh, but Hillary is super passionate about women’s rights.” Why then has she spent her entire adult life defending her husband who has sexually assaulted multiple women -- even going so far as to silence and threaten his victims?

“Oh, but Hillary is super passionate about combating systematic racism and helping the African American community.” Why then couldn’t she name a single conversation she’s ever had with a black friend when directly asked about it -- instead mumbling on about her “crew” of black people and how they’ve helped her ‘expand her musical tastes.’

“Oh, but Hillary is super passionate about the Clinton Foundation and giving back to charities.” Why then did the Clinton Foundation rip off Haiti and capitalize on their poverty and weakness after earthquakes decimated the country?

“Oh, but Hillary is super passionate about same-sex marriage and rights for LGBT individuals.” Why then did she oppose same-sex marriage as recently as 2007 and only changed her position after the majority of democratic voters began supporting gay rights?

Oh, but Hillary nothing.

Speech transcripts and recent WikiLeaks emails have shown that Hillary holds personal positions and public positions, which are often very different from one another. In other words, she feels one thing and says another in an effort to improve her political standing with voters, Super PACs, and campaign funders.

The problem with her flip-flopping and hypocrisy is that the American people aren’t stupid. They can see straight through her dishonesty and find it extremely challenging to connect with her -- even if they know they’ll ultimately vote for her over Trump. They look at her as the lesser of two evils -- not a candidate that they can passionately believe in.

The Trickle-Down of Zero Passion

When a candidate doesn’t have passion, it rubs off on their supporters. This has certainly been the case with Hillary’s crew. She has largely stopped campaigning in recent days -- instead hoping to see Trump implode -- and when she does, there are typically only a few hundred people present (sometimes fewer). Trump, on the other hand, a man with great passion and enthusiasm for the issues and his campaign, recently packed 8,000 supporters into the Budweiser Events Center in Colorado.

Trump supporters are all in. Former Bernie supporters are highly frustrated and feel betrayed. Hillary supporters are sitting somewhere in the middle, refusing to look in the mirror and ask themselves, “What does my candidate really believe in?”

Can She Find the Passion?

While the polls still indicate that Hillary is the favorite to win the election and become the next president, it won’t be because of anything she’s done. It’ll be the result of what Trump has done and the way he’s been negatively and unfairly framed by the mainstream media.

We can only hope that when Hillary does sit down in the Oval Office for the first time as commander in chief -- no doubt wearing an unflattering pantsuit -- that she doesn’t kick her feet up and chuckle to herself. We can pray that somehow she’ll miraculously find an ounce of passion and do something honest and genuine that will give the American people reason to be proud.

Oh, but Hillary hasn’t given us any indication that this is possible.