In the Arena

No Big Deal

I think I’ve now been asked 53 times whether Hillary Clinton’s emotional moment helps her, hurts her, will cause the ozone hole to expand and the polar ice caps to melt. Who knows? My reaction was that she’s exhausted, in a tough race and held things together very well under the circumstances.

In any case, I’ve seen her cry before–in Ahmedabad, India, in 1995, when a group of untouchable women at a marvelous NGO called Sewa began to sang “We Shall Overcome” in Gujurati. Every last one of us cried that day, including Senator Clinton, and none of will ever forget it.

Furthermore, I thought Clinton had a really terrific momenttotally disarming Chris Matthews yesterday. Makes you wonder why she hasn’t been more open with the press and public throughout. Has to be the stupidest campaign decision ever.

Response: Several readers want to know who those 53 people–and no, it wasn’t 53, I was just being pissy and frustrated–were who asked me about Clinton…and yes, you guessed right: Not one of them was a New Hampshire voter. All were journalists…especially foreign journalists and local New England media. (I was at a Clinton speech at the time.)

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