It has been obvious for some time that Bill and Hillary Clinton wish to emulate the Bush and Kennedy families and establish a transgenerational political dynasty.  Poor Chelsea Clinton is stuck in the role of heir, whatever her own desires may or may not be.

And like a dutiful daughter, she is going through the paces, taking a series of prestigious jobs (McKinsey, investment banking, and NBC), none of which worked out well enough to pursue for very long, marrying the son of a congresswoman and convicted fraudster (tapping into a rich vein of useful experience), and even posing for a sad attempt at glamorization in Elle Magazine.

Now, in the wake of the scandals uncovered by Peter Schweizer, she has been pressed into the role of defender of her mother.  On the face of it, this is rather despicable, since her mother is perfectly capable of speaking for herself but chooses not to, in order to avoid awkward questions.  Or let me amend that: “perfectly capable” may imply skill.  Hillary Clinton is not nearly the gifted liar her husband is.  But she is not struck dumb by some ailment; she has the gift of speech, so it would be better to write that there is no reason she cannot speak for herself.

But instead, Chelsea, the new mother, is pushed out on stage to defend her own mother.  And as in he other jobs, she is just not in top percentiles.  Which is not to say she is completely incapable.  With the benefit of her Stanford, Columbia, and Oxford education, she can string together words.  But the delivery is not at all convincing.  Watch as she dodges a question speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations (hat tip: White House Dossier) over the Clinton Foundation accepting donations from regimes that oppress women.  She delivers a bunch of canned platitudes, never addresses the question itself, and does so in a flat and frankly boring tone of voice.

I am no fan of Ms. Clinton.  She seems to have accepted the values of her parents.  But I also feel more than a little pity for her.  It cannot have been a treat to be reared by this couple.

It is often remarked of dynastic families that “the blood thins,” meaning that the energy and talents of the founding generation may not be passed down in full force to the successors.  Something like that seems to be operating in the wannabe Clinton Dynasty.  All the sadder for Chelsea.