Scott Long writes an occasional series at The Juice he calls "Please Explain" wherein he asks why a certain person/phenomenon captures our attention. Previous subjects have included Whoopi Goldberg, Danica Patrick, Bon Jovi, "Deal or No Deal," Larry King and Kenny Chesney. After reading this nasty column from Maureen Dowd following Hillary's NH win, I'm tempted to contract a piece from him on Ms. Dowd's Clinton-hatred.
Dowd:
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.Fortunately, several other people have already tried to explain it. A partial list: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.”
Bill Clinton was known for biting his lip, but here was Hillary doing the Muskie. Certainly it was impressive that she could choke up and stay on message.
She won her Senate seat after being embarrassed by a man. She pulled out New Hampshire and saved her presidential campaign after being embarrassed by another man. She was seen as so controlling when she ran for the Senate that she had to be seen as losing control, as she did during the Monica scandal, before she seemed soft enough to attract many New York voters.