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Clinton replaces campaign manager, sheds more tears

By David Freedlander, amNewYork Staff Writer
More stories | dfreedlander@am-ny.com

February 11, 2008

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton appeared to well up again during a campaign stop this weekend, calling attention to the New York senator's reasons to reach for the tissues.

Sunday, she replaced her campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle with her advisor Maggie Williams a day after being swept in three states by Sen. Barack Obama. The Clinton campaign had expected to lose those races, but some observers were taken aback by Obama's considerable margins of victory

Saturday, Clinton was campaigning in Maine, where she was facing Obama in Sunday's caucuses. According to the Lewiston Sun Journal, Clinton wiped away a tear during a question-and-answer session after an event when a disabled Marine home from Iraq told her that he barely made it to the event because of a "terrible" migraine.

The soldier continued, according to the newspaper, "But hearing you speak about my problems that will be alleviated as soon as you get elected has just made my day. Thank you."

It was the third time Clinton has misted up on the campaign trail. Last week, she teared up during a stop at Yale University, and a month earlier, she came to the verge of tears in New Hampshire -- a moment many believe gave her languishing candidacy a boost after her surprising rout in Iowa.

The Clinton campaign yesterday did not respond to questions about the campaign stop in Maine. Political analysts wondered how this latest show of emotion would play among voters as she and Obama remain neck-and-neck in the battle for delegates.

"I think maybe the first time or the second time it showed people that she really cared, but now you have to think people are going to wonder if she is going to do this all the time," said Doug Muzzio, a professor of political science at Baruch College.

He added, however, that people would be wrong to assume Sen. Clinton's display of emotions would render her unfit to govern.

"It was a undoubtedly a tragic story and it moved her. You have to give her the space to be a private human being. It doesn't necessarily mean she would be weak in a moment of international confrontation."

Longtime Democratic political strategist Hank Sheinkopf said he thought that the incident showed a certain kind of strength.

"She cares about the country. Wouldn't you care about the current state of the world?" he said. "It would be nice to have a president who actually is a decent human being and not an empty bag of rhetoric and who actually cares about what is happening to this country."

But others wished that the country and the blogosphere wouldn't twitter at every insignificant moment on the campaign trail.

"It's another distraction that keeps us from looking at the real issues," said Sonia Ossorio, president of the local chapter of the National Organization of Women. "Even from back in the days when people used to dissect her hair bands, there has been a lot of scrutiny on her on things that have been beside the point."