The more perceptive members of the Hillary Clinton fan club, a group that includes most of the mainstream media’s members, are aghast at Hillary Clinton’s series of gaffes introducing her new book, and by implication, her campaign. They realize that the reboot of her political career is quickly establishing her brand as unlikable, greedy, and out of touch. Which is exactly the brand that the MSM and Democrats (but I repeat myself) successfully imposed on Mitt Romney, as superbly qualified by track record a candidate as we have seen in a long time.

Ruth Marcus, the Washington Post columnist who openly describes Hillary as having a “long, admirable history of working to improve the lives of the poor and middle class,” seems to be nearly despairing, and offers some advice that merely shows how bad the situation is for Mrs. Clinton.

[American voters] have a problem with wealthy candidates who are whiny and/or defensive about their wealth; who are greedy and/or ostentatious in their acquisition and display thereof; or whose wealth makes them, or makes them appear to be, out of touch with the concerns of everyday people. Your difficulties, at the moment anyway, appear to be chiefly in the first two categories: defensiveness and greed.

Ms. Marcus is being too charitable. Hillary Clinton hasn’t driven a car, much less filled a gas tank, for years.  I sincerely doubt she could quote the price of a gallon of milk, something the George W. Bus was challenged to do and flunked, to his political detriment. She is out of touch in spades. And her supposed devotion to the middle class does not help. Mitt Romney, a very charitable man, got no credit for his devotion, and neither will Hillary.

Marcus offers some advice that I doubt Mrs. Clinton will take:

In the midst of a book tour (and with the ample cushion of a multimillion-dollar advance), you don’t need to be hustling for another$200,000 or so from the United Fresh Produce Association and Food Marketing Institute. On the verge of a potential presidential bid, please feel free to say yes to the University of Nevada at Las Vegas if you want to speak there. But you don’t have to hit its foundation up for a $225,000 fee, even one you plan to donate to the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Fix this now, or decide not to run. Then you can rake in the fees to your heart’s content.

Mrs. Clinton is not used to reining in her greed. She has a permanent hunger for money, created in an unhappy childhood and adolescence when money seemed to be the great limiting factor of her life. And she actually feels not “truly well off.”