Friday, January 11, 2008

Tearing up in a campaign

Most polls projected Hillary Clinton as bound to lose the New Hampshire primary bigtime, with Obama leading her as far as thirteen points, capitalizing on the massive momentum he got in the Iowa caucus. But thanks to an emotional moment where Clinton almost cried when asked how she manages to muster the energy and who does her hair (see Youtube video here), the women voters rallied for her and made her the winner in New Hampshire.

According to some, the emotional Clinton on the verge of tears looked so genuine she must have rehearsed that moment for hours. The woman won a Grammy before for the audio version of her book and now should be up for an Oscar: Who else could choke up and still manage to stay on message?

Richard Nixon realized the great political value of such lachrymal displays. In order to secure the nomination for Eisenhower's vice-presidency, he cried and hugged the general in public. Crying in public is so effective Nixon claimed he never cried in private.

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