The Clinton Machine Rolls On

So, with Terry McAuliffe out of politics for the time being (and hopefully forever) the news feeds are abuzz with rag lines like, 'the end of the Clinton machine.'

I find these predictions very questionable. Maybe the end of the Bill Clinton machine, who is no longer the Democratic presidential poster boy. Hillary on the other hand is just getting started. She has been on the fringe of American politics for 17 years or more. Now, after 8 years as a Senator, which gave her ample time to build her own relationships and networks, she is a quickly rising star all over the world. She's become the example for powerful and successful women. She gets high marks all around for her performance at State. And even Joe Biden has come out and said, "I think (the president) listens to her as much or more than anybody. She's the main player ... the one he looks to give the last wind-up pitch about what should be done."

The "Clinton Machine" is certainly not destroyed by Terry McAuliffe's defeat in a gubernatorial primary in Virginia. I would venture to say it is as big, of not bigger, as it ever was -- and rolling forward with greater ease and more success than when Bill was president. As I have said many times now, Hillary has become The Clinton, and the Clinton legacy is far from its final chapter.