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Hillary Clinton, because she's the Democrats' presumptive 2016 front-runner, has become the target du jour. Frankly, I don't know how public figures get through it.

One of the least appealing aspects of modern presidential candidates is that, to avoid saying anything that might prove to be an embarrassing, costly blunder, they cling to a rigid set of talking points that reveal as little as possible about what they really think and who they really are.

The Court made an exception, however, in the case of candidates contributing to their own campaigns because of the rather reasonable presumption that a candidate is incapable of corrupting himself.

The vice presidential candidate tends to be a bit of an afterthought.

Candidates matter. Campaigns matter. 'He can win' or 'She can't win' is up there with, 'I'm going to lose 10 pounds, win the lottery, and live forever.' Saying it does not make it so.

Candidates are making lasting impressions on voters, not just primary voters, in how they campaign.

Campaigns fail if they waste resources courting voters who are unpersuadable or already persuaded. Their most urgent task is to find and persuade the few voters who are genuinely undecided and the larger number who are favorably disposed but need a push to actually vote.

Politicians must be simple and clear about how their ideas will serve the national cause. We can no longer use the complexity of today's problems as an excuse for inaction, rhyme or rhetoric that does not meet the challenges before us.

I just don't see anonymous sources as fair against a candidate. I think if someone has a real concern, they should come out and say it.

Obviously a candidate has to be held responsible for the words that come out of his mouth, regardless of where they came from.