Hillary's Emotional Rescue
Jan. 7, 2008
"I have so many opportunities from this country. I just don't want to see us fall backwards."
—Sen. Hillary Clinton, while tearing up in New Hampshire
Despite her years of prominence, it was a side of Hillary Clinton the public had rarely glimpsed. Still reeling from her disappointing third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, the New York Senator was speaking to a small, friendly audience in a Portsmouth, N.H. coffee shop the day before the state's primary— a crucial contest that many observers believed would go to Obama, and effectively end Clinton's shot at the nomination. After a sympathetic questioner asked how Clinton persevered each day, the steely Senator's voice thickened with emotion and her eyes welled with tears as she talked about her passion for the country. The moment was fleeting— and some believe fabricated for political gain. But there is no denying that it humanized the hard-charging candidate, and may well have helped her win the primary. Clinton suggested as much in her victory speech, telling supporters that with their help, "I found my own voice."