Hillary Clinton is an accomplished and devoted public servant who cares passionately about her country. Her policy positions are in line with Democratic thinking and with the American people. Why is she losing?

The answer is not because of Madeleine Albright’s “special place in hell’’ remark or Gloria Steinem’s offensive joke, both directed at women, or because of the shots Bill Clinton took at Bernie Sanders. Those counterproductive comments widened the gap in New Hampshire, but they are not central.

The answer is not even her Iraq war vote, as lamentable as that was, or the big-money contributors and the Goldman Sachs speaking fees, as sketchy as those might appear to some.

Clinton is a toiler and a doer. She wants to work for all of us —women, men, children, the unemployed and underemployed, the disabled, blacks, Latinos, veterans, the homeless, the addicted. I do not doubt her sincere desire to fight for the American people and her competence to do so. Surprisingly, this desire to get things done FOR the people is the problem.

The American people want to be asked to join in a cause bigger than themselves, and to contribute to that effort. Sanders has tapped into that deep current in the American psyche. People are with him because he needs their help to wage this fight together.

Tim Kirk

Needham