A big rap against Hillary Clinton getting the Democratic presidential nod has been that her position on the Iraq War has put her at odds with the party’s anti-war base. Lefty bloggers and prominent liberal journals like The Nation have pounded away at her for not doing a John Kerry-like flip-flop on the war. But if the past few weeks prove anything, it shows the power of the Clinton political machine.

A couple weeks back, Bill Clinton arranged a meeting with liberal bloggers in his New York City office. The bloggers “came away with stars in their eyes,” in the words of Paul West of the Baltimore Sun. Last weekend, the former president went after Fox News and conservatives, to the applause of the Democratic base. Democratic politicians and Clinton operatives also joined in the Fox bashing. Hillary Clinton then jumped in by hitting President Bush for not doing enough prior to September 11. She followed that by blasting the president over the terrorist detainee bill – a bill that gives “the Bush-Cheney Administration a blank check – a blank check to torture, to create secret courts using secret evidence, to detain people…” – again to the wild applause of the Democratic base.

So in the blink of an eye, the Clintons fired up the base, took it to the Republicans and dominated the headlines. Come primary time, the Clinton machine will much more formidable than people realize should the New York senator make a run. Of course, the general election is another matter. Stay tuned.