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With that in mind, Hillary Clinton must feel a sense of deja vu about Rubio's rapid rise. If her best ally is the tendency of her opponents to overreact in attacking her, which makes her look more sympathetic to others, her worst enemy could be overconfidence.

Instead, she displayed excessive caution in the breathtakingly bland Internet video with which she announced her candidacy. A full minute and a half of happy racially, ethnically, martially, age and gender-diverse Americans embarking on new ventures (planting a garden, starting retirement, applying for a new job, keeping the dog out of the trash, etc.) preceded Clinton announcing her new venture, which is her campaign for president.

If anything, this launch of her campaign suffers from looking too pre-packaged. As a gauzy example of everything voters complain about in the age of slick, expensive advertising, it could make even Don Draper of AMC's "Mad Men" wince.

But it's early. Everyone knows that the former first lady, for all her accomplishments as a senator, secretary of state and advocate for various causes, lacks her husband's seemingly effortless ability to connect with audiences, big and small. Her strategy appears to be one of avoiding overexposure in these early stages while she works small crowds in Iowa and elsewhere from her van nicknamed "Scooby Doo." Welcome the new cuddly Hillary, coming to a coffee shop near you.

Meanwhile, as her path to the Democratic nomination appears to be even more devoid of strong opponents than it was in 2008, she can keep her speeches brief while Republicans make her and President Obama the invisible opponents in the room.

In other words, she can run a general election campaign, reaching out to moderate swing voters, while her Republican rivals battle each other for the opportunity run against her. For now she has a right to be confident, but she'd best not let it go to her head.

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E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@tribune.com.

(c) 2015 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.