Clinton: Tearing Up "Could Well Have Been" My Turnaround

Hillary Clinton also agreed that choking up helped her campaign in New Hampshire:

Clinton attributed her win in part to her success late in the race in telling voters why she's in public life, a reference to her choking up when a voter asked her how she was faring. Asked whether that was a turnaround for her, she said, "I think it could well have been.

Keep reading.

The media agrees with her. Below are a number of articles and columns on what Hilary's emotions did for her campaign.

From the NY Times:

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York rode a wave of female support to a surprise victory over Senator Barack Obama in the New Hampshire Democratic primary on Tuesday night. In the Republican primary, Senator John McCain of Arizona revived his presidential bid with a Lazarus-like victory....


...Several New Hampshire women, some of them undecided until Tuesday, said that a galvanizing moment for them had been Mrs. Clinton's unusual display of emotion on Monday as she described the pressures of the race and her goals for the nation -- a moment Mrs. Clinton herself acknowledged as a breakthrough.

Arianna discusses this in her latest blog:

But none of endemic New Hampshire Clinton advantages would have delivered victory were it not for Hillary -- either through desperation or exhaustion -- finally letting down her guard and showing her human side.

Several columnists have also alluded Hillary's emotional moment as one of the reasons for her her win.

Conservative columnist Bill Kristol said, "It's the tears. She pretended to cry, the women felt sorry for her, and she won."

Maureen Dowd writes a column today about how Hillary's emotions affected her campaign.

Read and watch the original crying indicident on Monday and how Hillary's Democratic rival John Edwards reacted.

Comments

[marykins123]

12:35 PM on 01/12/2008

As a woman who has recently retired as a Manager of a Fortune 500 company and has broken through the ‘glass ceiling’, I do not believe that Hillary Clinton has the character traits to be the first female President. My business experience has shown that there will be a big responsibility set forth for the first female President. If they employ a ‘confrontational’ means or the ‘feminine card’ in the job of being President; women that follow will be hurt for decades. Hillary Clinton’s actions/words (and Bill’s) during the NH Primary gave my fears of her lack of capability conformation.

Using victimization, sympathy, and the coattails of Bill is the ONLY experience that Hillary can lay claim to in the past 35 years.

[marguerita]

01:08 AM on 01/12/2008

Of Emotions,Cold Blood & Hot Blood:Shock & Owe

Hillary's political game
ednesday, January 2, 2008
Hymns on Paradise

For who would battle whom?
For rather prospecIconic moment showed New Hampshire voters human being behind icy exterior
How Hillary's tears shed her robotic imageAs Spencer Tracy said to Katharine Hepburn in “Adam’s Rib,” “Here we go again, the old juice. Guaranteed heart melter. A few female tears, stronger than any acid.”

P

[marguerita]

01:04 AM on 01/12/2008

Voila
The Poignant Frog:http://thepoignantfrog.blogspot.com/2008/01/hillteary-of-emotionsonions-other-scary.html

[leftbehind2000]

05:58 PM on 01/10/2008

What pisses me off the most is the thought that many of the people (women) who ended up voting for Hilary did so NOT because they felt she was the best candidate to lead this country, but because they felt the media was picking on her.

Are voters so shallow that they would actually choose a candidate based on how they feel he or she is being treated by Chris Matthews fer chrissakes?

What a way to pick the leader of our nation. How pathetic.

[tchoupitoulav]

10:27 AM on 01/10/2008

All a white girl has to do is cry and everyone begins to feel sorry for her. We don't want a southern bell sad.

[kimish]

07:16 AM on 01/10/2008

Many can probably recall that President Bill Clinton turned the tears on and off many times. Hillary simply followed that strategy and it worked for her;We will probably see it again this year when she gets into trouble. Act vulnerable and the vulnerable will take the bait - line, hook and sinker.

[loki]

03:45 AM on 01/10/2008

Hurray, its the Tears for Fear tour 08 !!

[CaptainVideo]

03:22 AM on 01/10/2008

When all else fails, playing the poor victimized female card can work for women and it did this time, saving her from defeat.

Playing the victimized female card did not consist exclusively of the tearing up incident. It also included the "You hurt my feelings" remark when someone asked her about the fact that many people do not find her likable. This is not about Hillary's feelings, it is about her electablility. The fact that many potential voters really do not like her has a very negative effect on her electability and was a perfectly valid question. By playing the poor victimized female card and complaining her feelings were hurt she was able to shut down this legitimate inquiry. If a man had complained that his feelings were hurt, he would have been laughed at.

[Mort]

12:53 AM on 01/10/2008

This is a slam against American women. Hillary says publicly that she found a voice by shedding a few tears. She learned a technique to manipulate others and is proud of it.

Women have been fighting for equality for how long? Hillary was stone-faced during all their years in office and scandals. Now she's in striking distance of what she's wanted all along, hits a little bump, sheds a very uncharacteristic tear and suddenly the tide is turned her way again. And then has the nerve to announce the discovery. In one sentence she slapped women back a hundred years.

[curiousasheck]

12:25 AM on 01/10/2008

No doubt The Clintons can pulverize the Republicans (third time a charm). The ideal ticket would be Clinton/Obama that way Obma would have experience as VP and be primed and poised for a Presidential run. Perfection.

Edwards would make a fine Attorney General also.

[Hrotea]

11:42 PM on 01/09/2008

NH VOTERS SAW THROUGH BARACK OBAMA’S DISTORTION
AND FALSE FACADE AND RIGHTLY ELECTED HILLARY CLINTON

By Hermie Rotea

New Hampshire voters once again showed intelligence and maturity when Tuesday night they refused to be razzle-dazzled by Senator Barack Hussein Obama’s oratory and bandwagon political strategy. Instead, they correctly recognized Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s experience and best qualification by electing her in the nation’ first primary to lead the nation as president after George W. Bush.

That is as it should be.

Unlike in Iowa caucuses the week before, matured voters this time finally saw through Obama’s distortion of Cllinton’s government service record. Obama wrongly and dishonestly labelled her as establishment and status quo candidate. In ccontrast, he wrongly described himself as the candidate of hope and change.

Nothing is further from the truth.

Clinton by just running as the first woman candidate for president in the United States already embodies change. She does not belong to the last seven years of President Bush’s current, corrupt and blundering administration. Before Bush, she served as First Lady of the Bill Clinton administration that balanced the national budget and even created a surplus in the government treasury.

So what was Obama talking about?

In contrast, he cannot rightly claim to be the first serious U.S. black candidate for president. That distinction belongs to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Obama therefore is a Johnny-come-lately presidential candidate. So to self-proclaim himself as the candidate of hope and change comparable to John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King is the height of hypocrisy.

His false facade has not worked.

Now this “Comeback Kid” (Hillary) versus the “New Kid in the Block” (Obama) is indeed a dramatic and interesting contrast. It is her record of some 30 years of change and proven experience and qualification, versus his some future hope for change that remains to be proved.

You be the judge.

[sollosi]

11:41 PM on 01/09/2008

Hillary's tearing up is further evidence why the idea of a woman president is going to be a major disaster for the America. The presidency is a man's job. That's right- A man's job. I know it does not sound politically correct; however it is the plain honest truth. America is just not a tin-pot European or third world country with a sissified population. A strong leader with a strong will is desirable all the time. Women, for whatever reason, cry too much.

Having said that, anyone that knows anything about women's calculating and manipulating nature, and their ability to shed crocodile's tears on cue to gain advantage would have quickly recognized what Hillary was up to.

By the way, to all you HuffPo lib feminazis, I ain't no misogynist. Women are smart, cunningly smart no doubt. Hillary proved that on Tuesday night.

[Clarabell]

11:32 PM on 01/09/2008

If you want to hate something, hate the media -- they are the ones who caused the big ruckus. Maybe it was GOD or her guardian angel saying "You Go Girl!"

[Clarabell]

11:30 PM on 01/09/2008

I wonder how many posters here know she didn't "cry" and didn't shed any "tears." Her eyes got a little moist and you had to look really close to see it. And most of the posts here make no sense. GET OVER IT!!!

[nature]

11:28 PM on 01/09/2008

The Clintons are great actors! Hillary Clinton has a private agenda to be the first woman president in the Unites States. She is not concerned about anything else! We need a President that is going to stand up to the oil companies who are flooding our oceans with oil. We need a president that is going to save our trees that will protect us by giving us fresh oxygen and removing carbon dioxide that is causing global warming. We need a president that is not going to destroy animals as a fun sport. Especially animals like the wolf who help control our ecosystem. We need someone who is concerned about the environment and the isssues on health care for the United State Citizens! Hillary Clinton will not get the job done! Do not vote for her just because she fakes crying and is the only woman running for president!
We need Mr. Gore to run for president who was the back bone of Mr. Clinton when he was in office. Mr. Gore was always right there reminding Mr. Clinton on the issues and concerns on the environment. The battle this year will be stupid he said she said conversations. Look for someone that tackles the issues now and states what they are going to do about them to solve the problem. I am so sick of politicians childish behavior as the Earth is continually abused and destroyed. Every day a species is wiped off the face of the planet due to greed! ECOLOGY NOW!