Tears Have Turned Campaigns -- Emotional Clinton Moment Could Change Perceptions, But in Which Direction?

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on Sen. Hillary Clinton's emotional moments on the campaign trail Monday. It begins:

After weeks of trying to soften her image, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's teary response yesterday to a voter's question could do more than any ad campaign or posed photo op. The question now: Did it help her cause? Or did she project the weakness that could be fatal for a presidential candidate?

I did not know about the incident until late in the day. I had not had a moment to read the Political Insider all day, as I went to do so, I saw the headline on the AJC's home page. After watching it and quickly doing a post about it, I rushed home to see if it would be on the national news.

Of course it was, and today I read that the incident occurred at 11 a.m., and that the national networks broadcast it all day.

The above noted Wall Street Journal article notes:

Mrs. Clinton has for years struggled with likability. Some voters see her as smart at espousing policy but lacking in sincerity. That means an emotional moment could work in her favor, political pundits say.

"The Muskie episode was out of anger, and it was in a time when men just didn't cry," says Mel Dubnick, a political-science professor at the University of New Hampshire. But in Mrs. Clinton's case, she "showed a softer side that everyone can accept."

My own reaction was expressed in my post of yesterday. It was not what the Clinton campaign needed, especially at this particular time.

Whether it will be her Muskie moment, whether it reveals a fatal chink in her armor, remains to be seen, but I just don't see any good coming from it other than perhaps some sympathy that is more than likely to come from those who do not dislike her to begin with.

I do think it was a time for the other candidates to show restraint as most apparently did with the exception of Edwards. When asked about it, he said he wouldn't talk about it, and then proceeded to say:

"I think what we need in a commander in chief is strength and resolve," Edwards said. "Presidential campaigns are tough business, but being president of the United States is also a very tough business." (from The Washington Post)

This hardly qualifies as a "no comment."
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Also see this article from The Washington Post.