Clinton Makes History, Trump Dominates The News

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton introduces President Barack Obama before he delivered a policy address on events in the Middle East. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hillary Clinton, the former First Lady, U.S. Senator from New York and Secretary of State under President Barack Obama, has secured enough delegates through victories in Tuesday's primaries to earn the Democratic presidential nomination--the first of her gender to do so.

But Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont says he's not going away, even after winning only two primaries (North Dakota and New Mexico) as opposed to Clinton's four (including California and New Jersey).  He vowed to take his fight to the convention, albeit with less staff and Clinton making conciliatory gestures toward his campaign.

Meanwhile Donald Trump, the nominee-apparent of the Republican Party, continues to make headlines by finding new ways to tick people off.  And all the GOP leaders who have reluctantly expressed support for the real estate mogul/reality TV star could only stand by and watch, wondering what has happened to their party.  Some recent examples:

• Trump considers Gonzalo Curial, the federal judge who's overseeing two class action lawsuits involving Trump University, "biased" for being of Mexican descent.  (As you know, Trump wants to build a wall across the U.S.-Mexican border to keep undocumented workers and other bad guys out.)  Curial, whose parents emigrated from Mexico, was born in Indiana.
• Trump is not much of a fan of the news media, especially when they ask him tough questions.  But that's the price you have to pay for all the free air time the TV networks are giving you.
• The PGA Tour moved its World Golf Championship from Miami--where Trump owns the Doral course that's hosted golf events for more than 50 years--to Mexico City.  The reason given was that Cadillac was dropping its sponsorship of the tournament.  Could it also be that advertisers and networks don't want anything to do with Trump, which is why he no longer hosts TV's "The Apprentice" or owns the Miss Universe beauty pageant?

Clinton has her own albatrosses, to be sure--Benghazi, the FBI's investigation into those pesky State Department e-mails, and her low poll numbers on trustworthiness.  Her biggest challenge, as we see it, is in getting in a word edgewise against Trump.  He's a master at sucking the air out of the room, publicity-wise, as the other GOP candidates learned to their dismay.  And the media are attracted to him like a moth to the flame.  Every time Trump belches, he makes news.

For Hillary Clinton to smash the final glass ceiling that leads to the White House, she must go beyond making history and create her own headlines.  She must also show skeptical voters that she can be a more effective leader than Donald Trump, and in the process prove that the presumptive emperor isn't wearing any clothes.