Crocodile Tears or the Real Deal?

I promised to keep political posts to a minimum. But I figured that after what happened in New Hampshire last night, it'd be OK to break the rules just for today. (Caveat finished! Now I shall commence with the post!)

Two or three days ago, I can't remember which, Hillary Clinton was asked "How do you do it?" The friendly supporter wanted to know how she continued campaigning day in, day out. Hillary answered with an emotionally charged response.

(More below the fold.)

Well, the very moment it was over, everyone was talking about it. Supporters saw a human being, a woman and a friend. Some people were surprised because it's very uncharacteristic of the former First Lady. And many reporters present at the time were visibly confused. Overall, most of her supporters seem to have been touched by it. But the opponents? They grabbed a hold of the seemingly genuine moment, tore into it, chewed it up and spit something very ugly back out. When they were finished with her, the emotional response looked a lot more sinister.

Remember when Giuliani took a phone call from his wife while giving a speech to the NRA? That was an interesting moment. He, too, was ridiculed, accused of planning the moment. I can't recall anyone thinking that moment was genuine. (It seemed far too bizarre for me to believe it was real.)

Mitt Romney has teared up three times since the fight for the 2008 presidency began. His emotional outbreaks haven't once made the front page. Most people probably didn't even hear about it. But a woman does it and it makes the front page of every newspaper and tabloid. It is talked about excessively on every TV show, radio show, and newscast. Certain sexists have implied that Hillary simply cracked under the pressures of campaigning in an attempt to paint a caricature of her as a hysterical female.

What do you think? Have we become too cynical? Did Hillary Clinton plan that emotional moment to prove to voters that she is indeed human? Or was it exactly what it seemed to be: a moment where her guard came down? And if that's the case, is there really anything wrong with that, female or not?

I'm not sure what would bug me more: the fact that she faked it or that we've all grown so cynical and distrusting enough to call her bluff.

Comments

[Suzy Q]

It seemed genuine to me, and I'm not a particular fan of hers. And she got herself under control fairly quickly.

That Mitt Romney has also teared up on the campaign trail is news to me, which makes the over-analyzing and vilification of Hillary's little moment seem even more sexist.

I dislike 9iu11iani too much to comment on his obviously staged moment.

[kdiddy]

oh my god, this whole thing has been making me so mad. I watched the video and kept expecting her to start bawling. What I saw was her voice cracking for a second. I don't even think her eyes got moist. Honestly, all of those dudes are terrified of her because regardless of politics she's a bad ass and they're trying to find any chink in her armor.

[mihow]

Here is a bit more about one of the Mitt teary-eye moments.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20071217/romney-war-dead/

I will look for the others. That's the biggest one, however.

[Melissa]

If people say that THIS is a woman getting emotional, well, they've not seen ANYTHING IMHO. She's competent, intelligent, and a toughie and as of today she still has my vote.
(And seriously, shouldn't she be on the strong end of the spectrum when you consider all the tears and hugging her husband puts out???)

[mihow]

Melissa: I agree. I first read about it and then watched the video. the way the news made it sound was that she was going to be sobbing, Terms of Endearment style. They REALLY want to bring her down it seems.

[Jill]

I've been reading a lot about this "breakdown" and was a little disappointed to see that there was no wailing to be seen. I like how she looks away to get herself under control and all the women in the room give a sympathetic laugh because they've all done that themselves.

I like how she just comes out and says "I want this and I'm willing to fight for this and I know how to do this." I think that it must be terribly frustrating to be held to a much higher standard than her male counterparts on a daily basis. She gets flack for being a hard ass but then she gets drug through the coals for letting her guard down.

I also think that it's an interesting statement for her to make that she's dedicated her life to politics because of a passion for the country and for people.

Thanks for the video.

[birdgal]

Hillary just can't seem to win in the eyes of the media: either she's 'manipulative' or she's being overly 'emotional'. I think any woman running for public office might have this problem; however, it might be worse for Hillary because getting misty eyed is so at odds with her outward persona that many people (well, people like Rush Limbaugh) assume that she's faking it. Anyway, there really is a double standard: Mitt can cry and get away with it while it's front page news when Hillary does it. I'm not a Hillary supporter, but I get mad when the media jumps all over her for being human once in a while.

[BaltimoreGal]

Yeah- I'm not sure that Hilary's a crier so I think it was genuine- because it wasn't too emotional. I don't think she's a faker or she would have tried it before, let's face it. And 9iu11iani, I'm sorry, is TOTALLY a faker. We've seen it before.

[chatty cricket]

Mitt actually caught a LOT of flack after he teared up, and was cautioned that crying on the campaign trail could turn into a very "Edmund Muskie" moment.

Hillary's not the only candidate to tear up, she's not the first, she won't be the last. That it's getting THIS MUCH air time is insane!! First of all, as professional as she tries to be, she's still a person. With feelings *gasp!!*

At this point (and frankly, in the first place) I couldn't care less if the tears are real or staged. I care more about her stance on the issues, and not at all about whether she should incorporate "warmer tones" into her wardrobe, or a little emotion shown after a very tough Caucus in Iowa.

Sheesh. Priorities, people!

[amalah]

I had to brace myself before watching -- I'd heard SO MUCH about it that I was expecting something truly painful. Tears. Shaking shoulders. Anything. I cannot believe the media is making such a big deal about a cracking voice. OH NOES! TEH LADY IS HYSTERICLE! OVAREEES!!!111!

I've fought back tears in public lots of times. One or two times I've truly lost the fight. This sounded really genuine to me.

[Sally]

Wow! Not even sure I should post my comment b/c I'll probably get steamrolled. I don't care if it was real or not. It wasn't too emotional, but I think whatever it was, she played up to it as much as she could. I have NO support or confidence in her, and I hope that she doesn't get elected JUST because she's a woman. Please please don't vote for her b/c you're a woman and so is she...make it about more than that.

Ok, sorry, didn't mean to get on my soapbox, but I'm really scared for our country if she gets elected.

[Nic]

So, I rolled my eyes at it. It happened in a room of 100 people from the media and over a dozen unregistered female voters. One of her main flaws among women voters is that she is seen as cold. I also think it was the day before the primary and they needed a news story that would have momentum and keep her at the top of the news cycle. Because she teared up, the message she had was heard, it was fairly succinct and simple, the country's going to hell in a hand basket and it needs to stop.

[mihow]

I'm not even going to touch your comment, Sally. My husband told me to stop discussing who should be elected on the Internet. I get far too worked up. :] I'm happy with all three of the Democratic top contenders, that's all I'll say.

Also, I realize that Mitt got some flack for his tearing up, but this didn't happen:

http://gothamist.com/attachments/jen/2008_01_hillarycov.jpg

(Taken from Gothamist here in NYC.)

[Tamara]

As someone who gets choked up and emotion when I'm tired, I totally felt for her. Thankfully I don't have to do it under the microscope she's sitting under. A few of my Obama supporting friends think the questioner sounded like a plant, and that it was asked because her handlers knew she would get a little misty if they asked her that. Honestly, I can't tell.

I will say, it took me some convincing last year to get behind her, but I am convinced. That said, any of the top three Democrats - Obama, Clinton or Edwards - would be fine Presidents. I feel so much better about all of them than I did about Kerry.

[Marilyn]

I saw no breakdown, no tears, no wailing and gnashing of teeth and certainly nothing to get all in a tizzy over like the media and everyone else is. I am also disgusted by her detractors taking that moment as an opportunity to rip her limb from limb. Pretty pathetic.

All I saw was a woman who is probably tired (who wouldn't be? man or woman?) and feeling a little frustrated with the hoops through which she and everyone else must jump. It can't be easy running for president. I know I would never want to be remotely involved with it and I think a lot of us overlook that.

[missbanshee]

Tamara, I was about to comment, but you said exactly what I was going to say. I'm happy with all three Democratic candidates. Not passionate about them like I was for Clinton in 1992, but supportive. That's what matters.

That being said, the whole "She's cold and heartless and evil!" thing that has turned into "She's a blubbering mess who has a vagina! Vaginas make you crazy and irrational! Flee!!!" overnight is making me so damn mad I can barely think straight.

[michelle]

It looked to me like an honest answer from an exhausted person, a refreshing glimpse of reality! I don't think even Hillary is that good of an actor. Fox News was suggested that the question was a plant but this morning they had the woman on CNN, she voted for OBama!

[Amy]

Mitt Romney is the antichrist, and thus has no emotions, therefore nothing he does or says is genuine in any way. He can tear up all he wants, it won't prove to anyone that he's a human being.

[starryrift]

I personally don't care whether it was real or not, although the fact that it's been largely well-received is a bonus. It wasn't histrionic or overdone, and Hillary doesn't have to convince voters she's a person -- she IS one. If this makes people feel a bit warmer toward her, yee-haw!
That said, I've long suspected that those who criticize Hillary for being "cold and heartless " are suffering from the very sexist attitude that a woman couldn't go through what she did in her marriage without taking Bill on publicly, Jerry Springer-style. This little catch in the voice may make those people feel Hillary is more "human," but what it makes me feel is that she's an adult.

[mihow]

Dude, Mitt proved himself inhumane when the day he strapped the family dog to the roof of their car and headed off on vacation. He's not right in the head, not right in the head at all.

[Chris]

As an interesting side note to this story, ABC news' website is reporting that the woman who made her cry voted for Obama.
As a democrat who is undecided about the top 3 candidates, I must say that article intrigued me.

[Nic]

I wanted to add that the media outlets are just insane with the story. The huge emotional breakdown? Uh no. I still think it was staged, but at the same time, the country really, really needs some help so I hope it wasn't.

[b]

Hm. I do think it was genuine, but I wouldn't vote for her if my life depended on it. (I know that some of you will say that IT DOES!) I'm thoroughly disgusted with the field I have to choose from. Where are the people with REAL experience? I'm so sad that our nation's elected leaders are reduced to playing guitar on late night and having Oprah pimp for them. Does anyone really give a shit about issues?

[Missy]

The accusations of "cold" or assertions of "human" are kind of irrelevant to me. It's a credibility issue. Because she is such a function of her political machine, the first thought in many minds was, "I wouldn't be surprised if this is a calculated move." She has a long history of positioning herself according to pollsters and--despite probably being a book-smart, hard worker--this makes it damn near impossible for many of us to trust her sincerity or her instincts.

On the other hand, even sincere crying on the job is potentially damaging to one's credibility. Who wants to deal with the possibility of a leader who cracks under pressure? Not me.

[Amy H]

I don't think it was staged on Hillary's part. I think she was tired and at the time, the polls weren't looking good for her. I truly think this was a slip that turned out to be very fortunate for her because she got some votes out of it.

Not a fan of hers, but can totally understand the breakdown if she felt she was losing ground in a fight she is very passionate about.

Mitt and Gulianni are fakers in my opinion.