IF YOU'RE LOSING YOUR HOME STATE – AT 9:55 A.M. ET:  To demonstrate the extent of Hillary Clinton's decline, one need only look at a new poll in her claimed home state of New York.  It's pretty stunning.  From The New York Times: 

A rough political summer has left Hillary Rodham Clinton with negative favorability ratings in a New York State poll for the first time, a low mark in the state she represented as a senator for eight years.

Mrs. Clinton was viewed unfavorably by 51 percent of the voters polled, compared with 46 percent who see her in a favorable light, a new Siena College survey showed. That is a change from a 56 percent favorable rating and a 40 percent unfavorable rating she had in the same survey in July.

Mrs. Clinton is still viewed positively by 70 percent of Democrats, the poll shows. But even in the state she adopted and represented from 2001 through 2008, her poll numbers have followed the same trend as her national numbers, suffering after a summer of questions about her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.

COMMENT:  And yet, one new national poll shows her increasing her lead over Bernie Sanders.  The numbers are less important than the perception, and the perception is that 1) her political position is deteriorating, and 2) that she's a terrible candidate who rarely handles a moment well. 

With news that Joe Biden will almost certainly enter the race, there is cause for serious concern in the Clinton camp.  The cloud of FBI investigations still hangs over her.  She can, of course, still win the nomination, but damaged goods don't look well on any shelf.

September 21, 2015