How Does One Cover A Coronation?

Francis Wilkinson warns that, even if no serious challenger emerges, Clinton’s nomination won’t be a cake-walk:

A Clinton coronation, if indeed that’s what Democrats give us, will be boring for Democrats and catastrophic for the news media. More than 200 reporters obtained credentials to get a glimpse of Clinton politicking. If she doesn’t get viable competition from Democratic opponents, she may have to invent it. Otherwise reporters will rely on internal feuds and Republican attacks to produce the kind of conflict on which campaign narratives depend.

To get a sense of the anti-Hillary caucusers, Jay Newton-Small attended an speech in Iowa by Bernie Sanders:

Sanders’ event was a relatively low-key affair attended by more than 450 people–still a decent crowd, considering the next caucuses are more than 16 months away. Most who showed were left-leaning populists who supported John Edwards in 2008 and consider themselves solidly in the anti-Clinton camp.

“I like the issues Bernie’s hitting, his anger, because I’m angry,” says Mark Brooks, 62, an Air Force veteran who believes Clinton is too “corporate” to be a good president. “This isn’t the country I defended,” he adds.

Meanwhile, Ben Jacobs finds evidence of Martin O’Malley’s shadow campaign.