Is Hillary Clinton being deliberately boring?

Something really bothers reporters about the speech Hillary Clinton gave Monday on economic policy.

“We must raise incomes for hard working Americans so they can afford a middle class life,” she said.

It was a perfectly reasonable, sober statement of familiar Democratic principles. But there was something different about it. It was slower, more deliberate.

“We must drive strong and steady income growth that lifts up families and lifts up our country,” she said.

And as I did a little searching, I realized what it was. She sounds a little like those radio broadcasts the State Department beams into third world countries.

Broadcasts that send messages like this: “Hand washing can help prevent the spread of many different infections. In a public restroom, if you dry your hands with a paper towel you should also use the towel to shut off the water and open the door.”

Clinton’s speeches are like the economic version of a personal hygiene message.

And I think it’s on purpose. I think she wants to lay low and not make any waves because she doesn’t want to draw attention away from what’s going on over on the Republican side, which is Donald Trump.

“It’s a term that I haven’t heard for years and that’s the term, ‘the silent majority,'” Donald Trump said referring to a maxim promoted by Richard Nixon while running for president.

“To you, the great silent majority, I ask for your support,” Nixon asked voters decades ago.

When your competition starts channeling Richard Nixon, then rule number one is, “Don’t get in the way.”