Still, CNN's Manu Raju has found a way to put Democrats on the spot about Hillary Clinton. He asks whether they consider her honest. If they say "no," they've distanced themselves from the nominee. If they say "yes," they disagree with a majority of voters in nearly every state. If they hem and haw, they're not any safer.

Raju first discovered this in a sit-down with New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan (D), one of the cycle's most relentlessly on-message candidates. She did her best to avoid answering when Raju asked if she thought Clinton was honest.

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Strike one: "I support Hillary Clinton for the presidency because her experience and her record demonstrate that she's qualified to hold the job."

Strike two: "She has a critical plan, among others, for making college more affordable."

Strike three: "I think that she has demonstrated a commitment, always, to something bigger than herself."

The answers, edited down to just the first sentence of the dodge, were run with the chyron "[Sen. Kelly] Ayotte's opponent dodges Clinton 'honest' question." Within a day, Ayotte's campaign had clipped the interview into a web ad (but not a paid spot). Mischief managed.

A week later, Raju posed the same question to Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.), who is expected to triumph in today's Florida primary and face Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

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"Do you 100 percent trust her?" asked Raju.

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"Yes, I do," said Murphy, saying he disagreed with Clinton only on her unpopular-in-retrospect vote for the Iraq War.

In and out — and in a state where the Senate race is just as competitive as (if less expensive than) the one at the top of the ticket.

The response from Rubio's campaign? It simply repeated the quote: Murphy, amazingly, trusted Clinton "100 percent" and had been "caught lying" so many times that no one knew what to believe.

"Murphy's belief that Hillary Clinton is 100 percent trustworthy puts him at odds with the vast majority of Americans, not to mention the The New York Times editorial page," said Rubio spokesman Michael Ahrens. "Floridians can't afford a politician who would be a rubber stamp for someone Americans already know they can't trust."