HAS BILL'S "LEGACY" LOST ITS SHINE?

As Hillary's numbers continue to slip in the polls in the final run-up days to the New Hampshire Primary, her husband may not be off much help. From this article in the Washington Post:

AMHERST, N.H., Jan. 5 -- He's no kid anymore, and it's his wife who is attempting the comeback. But former president Bill Clinton looked and certainly sounded Saturday like a politician whose legacy is on the line.

As Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) campaigned an hour away in Durham, barely mentioning her husband as she sought to rebound from her stinging Iowa loss, Bill Clinton blended a retrospective on his long career with highlights from his wife's resume and assessments of where she stands on the major issues of the day. But for the most part, it was Bill Clinton on Bill Clinton, a weary warrior fighting against a powerful wave.

[...]

Facing in Obama a candidate with charisma of his own and a message of change, even Clinton advisers conceded that, of all the images that the former president conveys, a fresh face is not one of them.

Does Clinton himself sense this? At their joint event on Friday morning, Clinton scanned the crowd as his wife spoke, biting his nails.

...He did blame the news media, at least in part for the Iowa outcome, contending that reporters have given a free pass to Obama, who won the caucuses by a convincing eight percentage points.

[...]

...[H]e was rarely animated. When audience members asked questions, Clinton stole looks around the room. For once, he kept his eye on the clock. "I gotta run," he called out when the hour was up....

Could we be seeing the demise of the Clinton Machine? It's too early to say, of course. But for the moment, the Clinton Machine has lost its shine. Tuesday's result in the New Hampshire primary will tell the tale.