And you thought the Republican National Convention got off to a bumpy start.
In the end, Donald Trump's promise to reduce crime, terrorism and immigration in America eclipsed his wife's plagiarism and Ted Cruz's non-endorsement, giving Trump an expected post-convention bump in the polls. Now Hillary Clinton has an unforeseen hurdle of her own to clear during the Democratic National Convention, stemming from the last thing on Earth she probably saw coming: another email scandal.
After months of complaints from Trump and Bernie Sanders about a rigged political system that favors people in power like the Clintons, talk of just such a conspiracy dominated the Democratic National Convention on day one.
On top of Clinton's own controversial use of a private email server when she was secretary of state, WikiLeaks went public Friday with about 20,000 emails from Democratic National Committee leaders showing they worked against Sanders to secure Clinton the nomination instead of remaining neutral.
The revelations in the email mean Sanders supporters may be less inclined to support or vote for Clinton and that Trump has a new line of attack to use against her. They also mean more uncertainty for independents and undecided voters.
As this election of two historically disliked candidates continues, let's see how Clinton handles this controversy. Will she acknowledge or disavow the DNC's favoritism? Will she suggest it had nothing to do with her or downplay the emails? Will she argue, as her campaign manager did on Sunday, that the emails are part of a Russian plot to help Trump?
We think Trump is a fickle, dangerous demagogue who wrongly wants to close off America from the world, but we have reservations about Clinton's approach to foreign policy, for one example, and her trustworthiness, for another. Clinton's challenge now is persuading skeptical voters her leadership style fits this fractious world.
Editorial on 07/28/2016