Hillary Clinton spent part of Monday trying to do a bit of damage control on her recent economic pronouncement, "Don't let anybody tell you that, you know, it's corporations and businesses that create jobs.”

She had made the statement campaigning on Friday for Martha Coakley, who is seeking the governorship in the state of liberal populist Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. But Clinton now claims she meant to make a point about corporations that outsource their jobs overseas and just "short-handed" the point.

Just to put things in perspective, the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll gives Clinton a 53-point lead over Warren nationally in a hypothetical Democratic nomination battle. A University of New Hampshire poll has Clinton ahead by 40 points in Warren's backyard. The 2014 midterms aren't even over yet and there's no indication Warren intends to run.

And yet merely hearing the footsteps was enough for Clinton to attempt co-opt Warren's populist message in an embarrassingly clumsy way.

To be clear, this one comment isn't going to be an issue for Clinton assuming she seeks the presidency in 2016. But it is illustrative of how Warren's presence in a Democratic nomination fight could create problems for Clinton, even if the Massachusetts populist doesn't ultimately prevail.