Opinion: The softer side of Hillary Clinton
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Here’s a quick blog roundup of reactions to the news from New Hampshire about Hillary Clinton’s wet eyes and breaking voice, as she took a question on haircare (perhaps a sore spot for her) and turned it into an emotional take on why this election matters.
Amy Chozick blogs for the Wall Street Journal:
Could this be her Edmund Muskie moment? In 1972, Muskie appeared to cry as he fumed against New Hampshire’s conservative Manchester Union-Leader, which had attacked his wife. For the Maine senator, who had been considered a front-runner, that moment punctured the campaign and eventually led to its collapse. That won’t be the outcome if voters think like (Democratic voter and haircare questioner Maryann) Pernold, who was satisfied with the answer. ‘She really loves us and wants us to succeed in the world,’ she said. ‘I think she’s real now, there’s a person there.’
And Noam Scheiber at The New Republic agrees with Pernold:
Watching the public beating she’s taken over the last several days, I kept thinking I’d have a hard time not bawling in public if I were her. I’m not being snide here--I’m honestly impressed and amazed that she’s managed to stay so poised, but it’s also heartening to know that she’s a human who takes these things personally, because running for president should be very personal. Reports of tears were obviously pretty devastating to Ed Muskie in 1972, but we’ve come along way since then, and no one question’s Hillary’s toughness. This won’t hurt her a bit.
James Joyner at Outside the Beltway thinks it’ll work, but the National Review’s Jim Geraghty disagrees.
New York Magazine’s Daily Intelligencer asks the cynical question:
Finally, proof that Hillary is human. Even though the campaign is ravaging her physically and emotionally, she’s still fighting because she cares. What better testament to someone’s character as a candidate? Either that or she faked it, which would also be totally stellar.
And Jeralyn on Talkleft dismisses it, ‘Did she cry? Not that it should matter, but no, she didn’t. She showed emotion. Will the media now blast her as weak instead of shrill?’
Who else has wept? Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and George H.W. Bush, for starters. Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher, even (perhaps once you’re in charge a tear is passable). Mitt Romney, to less hoopla, but to claims that Romney can cry, but Clinton can’t. (When asked after the Romney incident the last time she cried, Clinton joked, ‘When I had to get up at four o’clock in the morning in Des Moines.’)
Update: The Times’ report.
Update 2: An empathetic and well-put reaction from Open Left’s Matt Stoller.