Ted Kennedy’s health crisis, regardless of your views about his politics, is a personal tragedy. Others have commented on the “politics” of it. But on a deeper level I wonder if there is not a lesson for Hillary Clinton. Kennedy, despite his family’s White House history, could never make it there himself. His baggage was too great, the timing never right. And even if he had gained the nomination in 1980, it’s not clear he would have been any more successful in stopping Ronald Reagan. He might well have been been relegated to the “loser” list, a group not treated with great reverence by the Democratic Party. Instead, he put away presidential ambitions and became the “lion of the Senate,” leaving a legislative mark greater than many presidents.

Could Clinton do the same? It would take a personal reorientation and a desire to put away singular focus on reclaiming the White House, something many suspect is simply beyond her ability to fathom. But the lesson is plain: not all power resides in the White House and not all glory is presidential. Frankly, it’s the best she might be able to do.