Well folks I'm not sure what to make of this last bit of news-Hillary may have a human heart. Or is this feigned emotion? To be considered one of the few women in history to actually have a fighting chance at the presidential nomination and then to cry because of the pressure doesn't bode well a day before the NH primaries. Doesn't this outburst undoubtedly play into the hands of the chauvinists that already believe the emotional woman stereotype? Are we to expect similar behavior if the terrorists loop a biological weapon in our direction like a Michael Vick overhead pass? Perhaps I'm interpreting this incorrectly as prospective voters have critiqued Senator Clinton as being manipulative, shrill and insincere. What say you, readers? Are we to accept Clinton's latest act of contrition as legitimate or is Obama's projected 50-30 NH lead getting the best of her? You decide. Check out this quick excerpt, courtesy of the International Herald Tribune:
Clinton's campaign was shaken by her third-place showing Thursday in Iowa, where John Edwards came in second. In an interview with NBC on Monday she waved off, with a smile, the suggestion that of any sense of "panic" had pervaded her campaign. "Panic" was the one-word headline in a New York Post story about her.
Still, in perhaps her most public display of emotion of the campaign, Clinton's eyes welled with tears later in the day and her voice cracked as she talked about holding up under the rigors of the race.
Clinton did not cry or look like she was crying, but she was on the verge of it after a woman asked her, at a roundtable discussion at a coffee shop in Portsmouth, how she managed to get out of bed and soldier on.
"How do you do it?" asked the woman, Marianne Pernold.
"It's not easy, it's not easy," Clinton replied slowly. "I couldn't do it if I did not passionately believe it was the right thing to do. It's very personal to me."
Clinton's voice then softened to a near-hush and she spoke more haltingly. "I have so many ideas for this country, I just don't want to see us fall backwards," she said, her eyes visibly wet, as a row of news photographers snapped away. "It's about our country, it's about our kids' futures."
It was not quite an Edmund Muskie moment - the crying episode by the Democratic candidate in 1972, at a time his wife was being called a heavy drinker, that essentially ended his campaign. Nor was it clear whether Americans view tears from a woman seeking the presidency differently from those of a man. The image might even help humanize her - something critics have said she needed to do.
For the remainder of the Tribune article, click below:
Obama and McCain ride momentum; Clinton feels the pressure
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