Clinton’s Personal Pitch

In New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton cried before a primary she was expected to lose—and astonished everybody by winning a resounding victory from voters who were drawn to her human side. Now, with the nomination on the line in the March 4 Texas primary, Clinton is once again showing her softer side. At Thursday night's debate an unusually reflective Clinton responded to a question about how she handles crisis by saying, "Well, I think everyone here knows I've lived through some crises and some challenging moments in my life … People often ask me, 'How do you do it?' You know, 'How do you keep going?' And I just have to shake my head in wonderment, because with all the challenges that I've had, they are nothing compared to what I see happening in the lives of Americans every single day." The answer got an ovation and pundits proclaimed it a defining moment.

It didn't take long for Clinton's aides to realize she'd scored. They immediately sent out a summary of the pundits' reactions to her closing remarks, noting that David Gergen called them "the most effective moment she's had on television, I believe, since the New Hampshire primary" and a blogger's comment that "Hillary Clinton just hit that closing response out of the park." Campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe later sent a mass e-mail with a link to a video of the response, calling it a "remarkable moment" and urging recipients to "pass it on." The e-mail's subject heading? "It was the moment of the debate."

The campaign didn't waste time merchandising the "remarkable moment" on the stump and with the press. As Clinton's press bus rolled through Dallas today en route to a morning rally, senior spokesman Mo Elleithee told reporters that Clinton and her staff are "incredibly pumped" about Clinton's closing remarks and asked us to listen for references to them in speeches today.

It didn't take long to discern the new emphasis. Just two days ago in New York City Clinton was railing against Obama, demanding, "Let's get real!" and telling voters, "It is time to get real—to get real about how we actually win this election, and get real about the challenges facing America." The speech fell flat, because it made Clinton seem shrewish; most of the press coverage of it was negative. By contrast, at her Dallas speech today Clinton immediately reminded an energized crowd of several hundred of her reflective moment.

"Last night at the debate I made it very clear that this election is about all of you," she said. "As I said last night, every one of us faces challenges in our lives." She seemed relaxed, interrupting herself to sweetly ask a man in the crowd to lower his sign because people behind him couldn't see. She then joked, "I solve problems everywhere."

The speech was also unusually personal. She spoke of how inspired she has been by former Texas Democratic congresswoman Barbara Jordan, saying, "Her courage inspired me. It was about getting up every morning against some really tough odds and going forth to make the changes that she knew would make America a better place." Then she once again repeated the sentiment that went over so well last night, telling the crowd, "It's not about me or my opponent. It is about what we do together, and I've been making positive differences in people's lives for a long, long time."