Washington Post colunnist David Ignatius said the "monarch-in-waiting" routine by Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton had been "dreadful" Monday on Morning Joe.
Ignatius said she was not a "convincing populist" as she sought to hold off long-shot challenges from the likes of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, who entered the race over the weekend.
"If Secretary Clinton's going to be a candidate who can win the general election, she's going to have to show what she's got under more pressure from Bernie Sanders, from O'Malley, whoever it is," Ignatius said. "I actually think that's going to be good for her. This period in which she is the monarch-in-waiting has been dreadful. She gets bashed every day."
Both Sanders and O'Malley are viewed as truer liberals than Clinton, who has been criticized harshly from her left flank for being close with Wall Street.