Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Ice Queen Cometh Forth With Tears

Apparently Hillary Clinton does have emotions. Well if you believe what she did the other day was real then you would say she has emotions. I being of the skeptical nature, especially when it involves a Clinton, am not so convinced. The emotion that she portrayed was uncharacteristic for the former first lady who has kept emotion out of her life when it comes to her public appearances. But there she was tearing up; breaking down from the emotional roller coaster of the campaign, or maybe the fact that Obama had just trounced her in Iowa. After all this is Hillary's time to be president, an heir apparent to fulfill the Clinton dynasty and bring back the good old times of the Clinton decade of the 90's.

The once thought breakdown of the Clinton political machine has made a 180 degree turn with Senator Clinton's win in New Hampshire last night. Surprising to many pundits and pollsters who had Barack Obama winning the Granite state primary. The results poured in throughout the night and Obama never took the lead and closed out in second place. One story of the night might be how the pollsters and their polls could have gotten the race so wrong? Almost all the polls showed winning with some projecting a double digit win. Instead Hillary staring as the comeback kid took her place on stage at the end of the night a declared winner. The other story of the night was how Hillary staged such a comeback.

Maybe we should not be shocked by Hillary's win in New Hampshire. She certainly has been the declared front runner for some time. The win by Obama in Iowa simply shifted the focus from Hillary and cast doubt on her political machine. But firing on cylinders she rallied enough support to win and to perhaps take over control of this race from Barack Obama. With Obama winning Iowa and with the bump he got compounded with the short time between contests, Senator Clinton was able to sway support back to her side. Could it be that her tearful display was just the thing to gain her that support?

In a week in which she drew fire from Obama and John Edwards perhaps she garnered the sympathy only enjoyed by her during her husband's scandals. It could be that women saw the attacks as an attack on Hillary and drove support her way. If true then the strategy certainly worked and gives her new life. For such a strong response to one emotional performance Hillary might deserve an Oscar, it is not totally ridiculous Al Gore has one.

Because of my skeptical nature I doubt the genuineness of Hillary's emotional breakdown. I am not alone in this as many have questioned her display. I happen to think that speaks volumes about Mrs. Clinton. For most we would not even question if someone was simply employing a strategy to garner sympathy. When it comes to the Clintons and their ambitions, nothing is out of the realm of possibility. After all the breakdown seemingly came as a result of her loss to Senator Obama in Iowa. And as she talked about in her tearful conversation with her audience, everything positive that can happen in this country would be as a result of her place in the White House. The campaign trail is long and obviously takes its toll but does it compare to life as the president and especially with the problems that exist for the next one. If someone is unable to bear the brunt of a campaign can we really look to them to lead our country during the next crisis.

Maybe Hillary's emotion show was not just for show. Perhaps she shared a real emotional moment with us. We must look at the source and decide what we can believe. Maybe I am to skeptical and should except Hillary's display on face value as a women feeling the emotions of a long campaign. It is wholly believable that Hillary would try every play in her playbook to disrupt the wave Obama was riding after Iowa. The suspension of disbelief required to accept Hillary's emotion as real rivals that of global warming and Bill not knowing the definition of is.

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