Hillary the Machine

Forget the theories that Hillary Clinton won New Hampshire because she shed a few tears or because she out-debated Obama. The best explanation is the simplest one: she mobilized the traditional Democratic base.

The Clintons have a political machine. Hillary turned that thing on full speed yesterday and got the right people to the polls. The pundits will want to make this a story about Hillary’s changing strategy. The numbers seem to show nothing has changed at all– the machine simply worked for a primary where it failed for a caucus.

Obama isn’t up against a new Hillary. He’s facing the same powerful political engine that’s been here all along.