I think the democrats need to come up with an alternative to Hillary Clinton. She's definitely no shoe-in for the presidency. There's too much controversy surrounding her. Joe Biden lost the bid for president before and Bernie Sanders is too far left for your average independent voter like myself. It's time to bring in someone new. A non-politician and contributor to the democratic party. The candidate needs instant name recognition. Perhaps the democratic voting public can cajole Jamie Foxx into running for the post. He's instant name recognition, a democrat contributor and popular. We've had a peanut farmer president, an actor president, an actor governor and a wrestler governor; might as well try another actor.
Not being a shoo-in is no detrement in my book. I think any battle that you survive makes you stronger. The small number of debates may be an issue for the Democratic nominee as the POTUS debates are usually 3 for the top of the ticket and one for the VP.
As for the candidates themselves, Hillary is doing well in my opinion. The idea that she was going to blow others out of the water was disproven in 2008 so I'm not quite certain why some expected her just to show up and take the title this time. I'm also happy to see that she is largely doing this on her own without the close air-support of Bill. Undoubtedly, Bill is like a Hall of Fame closer you can bring out of the bull pen to finish off the competition. The GOP has nobody they can draw on from previous administrations that is in his class. And, next fall, just wait until Obama starts campaigning for her. They may not appear together often but as a fund raiser, Obama will be extremely effective.