It is difficult to imagine a bigger mishap for the Clinton campaign than a video of her fainting into the arms of secret service agents and being bundled away in a van. She then emerges a few hours later from her daughter’s flat saying she ‘overheated’ and now feels fine. A little later it is diagnosed that she has pneumonia. At once the whole trust issue is added to a health scare. She cannot possibly feel fine. I have had pneumonia twice; once as a child before antibiotics and once as an adult with them. I can tell you Mrs. Clinton is not fine, neither will she be fine in two days. This is a very serious condition which will take time to get over, even if the acute stage is dealt with my medication. Moreover getting pneumonia in high summer is unusual and indicates a degree of stress and strain way above normal. Churchill also want down with pneumonia during the war. He described himself at the end of his tether. That is where Mrs. Clinton is now. When you look at the schedule that has been her life for over a year, that is no small wonder.
Americans like a ‘strong’ President. Yet being President imposes a fraction of the physical demands of the campaign to get elected. The country needs a cerebral president who can think things through and work thing out, who can cut deals and give leadership, not one who is going to personally lead a mission of the Seals. So it should not matter to voters if Mrs. Clinton now takes two weeks out to recover and get her strength back. But in modern America it will matter. How much we cannot tell. But it could just be the break that Trump has been waiting for.