With Election Day six weeks away, it's time to acknowledge a basic reality of the presidential campaign: Hillary Clinton is a very flawed candidate who has been unable to inspire trust and confidence. She will have another chance to do this in her debate Monday with Donald Trump but, if the past is any indication, it will be a struggle.

"When it comes to public service, I'm better at the service part than the public part," Clinton said at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro Sept. 15. It was her first speech after taking a few days off to recover from pneumonia, and she was attracting enormous media and public attention, but the best she could do was offer this tepid mea culpa for her political shortcomings.

You'd think that after more than two decades in Washington, she would have found a way to rectify this, but she hasn't. She is talking about revealing more of herself, showing her emotional side, demonstrating empathy and displaying a sense of humor. But she has tried to do all of this before, and it hasn't worked, so remaking her persona will be almost impossible at this late stage of the campaign.

The Democratic nominee says she would be an excellent president, and maybe she's right. After serving as first lady when her husband Bill was in the White House she won two terms as U.S. senator from New York and then served four years as secretary of state. In those last two jobs, she was known for her intelligence, perseverance and ability to work with others, and her job-approval ratings among voters were good.

But as a presidential candidate this year, she has flopped in significant ways, and as a result has lost a big lead over Trump, the Republican nominee. The race is tightening nationally in the polls, and Trump is leading in key states such as Iowa and Ohio. He is doing well in the mega-state of Florida, and has moved into a virtual tie with Clinton in Nevada and North Carolina. Trump is gaining on Clinton in Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Virginia, according to some polls.

Clinton makes one mistake after another. She has attacked pro-Trump voters rather than Trump himself, making it next to impossible for her to court them. Clinton regularly frames issues in terms of abstractions rather than how they affect everyday people. She has issued a blizzard of position papers on all manner of issues but lacks a compelling theme tying all the strands together. Her slogan, "Stronger Together," conveys her desire to unify the country but even some Democratic strategists outside her campaign say it's too vague and isn't far-reaching enough.

She seemingly can't be candid. It was only after she stumbled at a public event this month that she revealed that she was suffering from pneumonia. This seems part of pattern, a preoccupation with secrecy, reflected in her violation of government rules when she used a private email system while she was secretary of state. Voters think she has something to hide. Most voters don't trust Clinton, and she has great difficulty connecting with everyday Americans who find her too distant, secretive, arrogant and surrounded by Washington insiders and rich donors.

Meanwhile, Trump is in many ways Clinton's opposite. He has never held public office so his governing skills are in doubt and his temperament is questionable. He is insulting and outrageous and often departs from the truth in his public statements. But he has mastered the folkways of our celebrity-driven culture, capitalizing on his fame as a businessman and reality-TV show host. He knows how to orchestrate publicity to his best advantage, and gets public attention almost at will with a one-liner, a tweet or an appearance on TV. Most voters have an unfavorable impression of Trump as a bully, an ignoramus and a narcissist. But he knows how to dominate the media, which is a big advantage in a presidential campaign. And he has assembled enough die-hard supporters to make him a formidable candidate who could win in November.

Trump recently appeared on Jimmy Fallon's late-night TV show and allowed the host to mess up his famous hairdo, making him look good-natured and approachable. This worked against type and revealed Trump not as an angry, isolated billionaire but as a normal fellow who can laugh at himself. It might have been a made-for-TV act but it was effective. Trump also appeared with Dr. Oz, a popular TV host, to discuss his health, further softening his image.

Clinton appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel late-night show amid reports about her pneumonia and stamina, and she opened a jar of pickles at Kimmel's request to demonstrate strength. It was a good moment for Clinton because it showed she had a sense of humor. But these moments are rare for her.