A familiar visitor has returned to the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign: her cough.  It had been taking a time out from the campaign, but yesterday, at the AFSCME Convention in Las Vegas (the holist of holies for Democrats), coughs interrupted her speech:

The cynic in me wonders if the cough is a placeholder for sure loser Hillary’s eventual withdrawal from the campaign, before – or more likely after – she is nominated next week by the Democrats.

Although it is forbidden to raise the topic, many Democrats are obviously uneasy over her unappealing manner and her string of lies over emails refuted by no less than the director of the FBI.  They see Donald Trump pulling even with her in the polls and realize that he could well defeat her in November.

Democrats think almost any other Democrat than Hillary could defeat Trump.  If the trajectory of the race does not change, I think it is very thinkable that an approach would be made to Hillary, telling her that she must withdraw from the ticket due to health concerns.  Unless her polls are so dismal than even she can smell defeat, this would be a tough sale to close.

Unless, that is, the prospect of an indictment by Trump attorney general Chris Christie has her worried, and there is a promise to pardon her on the table from Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, or Bernie Sanders.  Speaking on Morning Joe this morning, Christie said she ought to be prosecuted.

There are many advantages to springing a new candidate on the pubic in, say, September.  There is little opportunity for opposition research to take a toll, and the fresh new candidate would hog a lot of attention.

Let’s see if the cough remains a presence in the Hillary campaign.