Tulsi Gabbard should be prepared to send flowers to Hillary Clinton.

Had it not been for Clinton’s unhinged allegations on a podcast last week - implying that the first female combat veteran to run for president is a Russian asset - Gabbard would almost certainly be eliminated from the fifth Democratic debate for lack of funds and poor polling.

Now the Army National Guard major who served in Iraq and Kuwait is raising money and making headlines off of Hilary’s zany charges. Who knows, she may be able to stay on the stage.

Democrats. I’ll never understand them.

It all began with the “Campaign HQ” podcast last week, when Clinton told host David Plouffe that Gabbard was a “favorite of the Russians.”

Later Hillary coyly said: “I think they’ve got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate.”

Clinton’s attempts to remain relevant are sad. But this recent conspiratorial nuttiness is outlandish. Even for her.

Tulsi embodies all that is intolerable for narrow-minded feminists like Clinton: A woman who thinks for herself.

Gabbard’s not afraid to say that late-term abortions are wrong. She’s unafraid to say that as a veteran of tours in Iraq and Kuwait, she wants an end to American military adventures abroad. She’s also one of the few candidates opposed to some of the open borders extremism that has engulfed the Democratic party.

She’s a decent debater who delivered a knock-out punch to Kamala Harris in the second debate, reminding viewers that this California hypocrite locked people up when she was a prosecutor and kept them in prison even after their sentences were served.

Harris has not recovered from Tulsi’s blows.

This doesn’t mean Tulsi Gabbard is a conservative. She’s not. She only appears reasonable when standing on a debate stage in a sea of far-left fanatics. Remember, Tulsi backed socialist Bernie Sanders in 2016. That is not a sign of a moderate.

Still, no one should question this veteran’s patriotism. Especially not someone who concocted a fiction about landing under sniper fire in Bosnia in 1996, as did Hillary during one of her flights of fancy.

Tulsi’s barely polling at 1.2 percent in the the Real Clear Politics national poll average. Below Steyer and above Bennet. Whoever they are. 

If Tulsi’s poll numbers miraculously climb high enough to qualify for the fifth debate she should toss Hillary a bouquet.