It's kind of weird, isn't it? Hillary Clinton seems to have done more damage to the Republican party by failing to become President than she possibly could have by actually becoming President.
Republican hatred of her certainly had an effect on the election, but now that the extent of that hatred is showing that Trump officials were agents of foreign governments and colluded with the Kremlin? That's hugely damaging.
The thing is, it's not just the superficial obsession with Hillary Clinton that's doing the damage. It's pretty obvious that Clinton would handle pretty much any situation encountered so far better than Trump. Trump can barely manage a phone call, after all, whether to the family of an dead serviceman, or to a foreign leader. The constant attacks on Obama and Clinton do have an effect, sure, bringing to mind a more competent White House in the past, and as an alternative present.
It's not just that though- it's all the little things. The trumped up conspiracy theories. The inability to recognise good leadership. The contempt for women and history of sexual harassment. The love affair with the far right.
As Hillary Clinton retires from politics, the idea of what a Clinton administration (ok- another Clinton administration) would have looked like becomes clearer in the imagination of both Republicans and Democrats, sure. It's even clearer, however, that the Republican party is heavily burdened by her loss.
