A No Contest Nominating Contest

David Leonhardt: “The Democratic Party is on the cusp of a primary-election campaign unlike any in memory. It does not have an incumbent president running for re-election. It does not even have a sitting vice president with an easy path to the nomination. Yet the party may conduct one of the least competitive nominating contests in modern political history.”

“The closest recent parallels to her are George W. Bush in 2000 or Bob Dole in 1996 — and yet both of them faced stronger rivals than Mrs. Clinton probably will.”