Crying for Votes

If George Bush plays politics with fears, Hillary Clinton plays politics with tears.

As you may remember, one day before the New Hampshire primary, Hillary became teary eyed as she described her ostensible passion for America:

"You know, I have [had] so many opportunities from this country, and I just don't want to see us fall backwards, [Hillary's speaks softly, her eyes glistening, her voice starting to break.] Some people think elections are a game, they think it's like 'who's up' or 'who's down,' it's about our country, it's about our kids' futures, it's really about all of us, together."

Many pundits declared that Hillary, already down by double digits in polls, would pay the price for her "un-presidential" display of emotion (see Hillary's first crying moment here). However, as results came in the next night, it became clear that Hillary's cry did the opposite: Hillary won a stunning upset against Barack Obama.

In a January 9, 2008 editorial in the New York Times entitled Can Hillary Cry Her Way Back to the White House?, columnist Maureen Dowd wrote:

When I walked into the office Monday, people were clustering around a computer to watch what they thought they would never see: Hillary Clinton with the unmistakable look of tears in her eyes.

A woman gazing at the screen was grimacing, saying it was bad. Three guys watched it over and over, drawn to the “humanized” Hillary. One reporter who covers security issues cringed. “We are at war,” he said. “Is this how she’ll talk to Kim Jong-il?”

Another reporter joked: “That crying really seemed genuine. I’ll bet she spent hours thinking about it beforehand.” He added dryly: “Crying doesn’t usually work in campaigns. Only in relationships.”

Today, it looks like Hillary is pulling out the tears again. At Yale, Hillary was introduced by a former law professor who said, "Here is the abiding truth we know — you have always been a champion for children. Welcome home, dear friend. We are so proud of you." At this, Clinton teared up:



(Above: Hillary gets emotional at Yale on 2/4/08; photo from the AP story.)

Afterwards, Clinton said: "I said I would not tear up. Already we're not on that path."

Now, I do not want to be cynical, but I find it hard to believe that this was entirely natural. Simply consider the following:

• Hillary has spent years controlling her emotions so well that she has earned the reputation of being cold and stodgy. It is hard to believe that she could not control her emotions when she knew full well what the professor who introduced her would say.
  
• Hillary pulled out the tears right before the New Hampshire primary and won, despite double digit deficits in polls. Now, she is pulling out tears the day before Super Tuesday.
  
• The fact that Hillary promised beforehand that she "would not tear up" almost makes it more likely that the entire thing was actually a setup. In other words, if Hillary cried out of the blue, it could be more easily seen by some to be calculated. But, if she promised beforehand not to cry and then cried, it could be seen by some (naive individuals) as genuine. Yet, I suspect that Hillary issued the "no-cry" warning in order to make her planned tears appear more genuine.
  

The Clinton strategy is obvious: strategic crying will

• Make Hillary appear more emotionally sensitive and enable her to bond with voters (especially female voters) on a deeper level.
• Capture press coverage away from Obama.

On the point of press coverage, consider that the homepages of Yahoo News and CNN each featured video of Hillary in prominent positions:

(Yahoo News. Notice the video in the upper left entitled "Play of the Day: Clinton gets emotional")


(CNN. Notice the video in the upper left entitled "Clinton gets personal").