Clinton's comeback - tears and sympathetic women?

By Andrea Hopkins - Analysis

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton's surprise comeback in the U.S. presidential race this week sparked national soul-searching. Did women rally out of guilt? Or did a glimpse of tears win the senator a bit of sympathy?

While pundits have weighed in on what happened in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary to push Clinton to victory over rival Barack Obama, interviews with female voters across the country turned up a common theme -- the former first lady's tearful moment on the campaign trail had touched a nerve.

"It doesn't hurt her to show some humanity," said retired nursing teacher Madelyn Levy, 61, as she sipped coffee in Cincinnati. "My heart went out to her. She's human."

"It's because she cried, and women felt sympathetic," said Kate O'Grady, 35, an accountant, in the same coffee shop.

Clinton's emotional response to a question from a New Hampshire voter on Monday was dissected from the first. The New York senator, who would be the first woman U.S. president, teared up when asked how she kept going on the campaign trail.

Was the emotion genuine or a calculated attempt to show a softer side? Did it show weakness? Had Clinton's unexpected loss in the Iowa caucuses broken her resolve?

A day later, Clinton won a narrow victory in New Hampshire's Democratic primary over Obama, the Illinois senator who would be the first black U.S. president. Polls had predicted Obama would win, building on his first-place victory in the January 3 Iowa nominating contest.

The victory evened up the Democratic race as candidates head into more state-by-state contests to choose the party's nominee for the November presidential election. The Republican race is wide open as well.

GUILT

While accountant O'Grady thinks Clinton's tears were fake, she said the Iowa disappointment and the glee with which critics pounced on Clinton's loss probably made women rally to her defense. "People felt guilty, and said 'We need to save the ship,'" said O'Grady, an independent voter.

Claudia Brown, a retired teacher in Missouri, said Clinton's emotional display made her more appealing.

"There have been a number of things that have prevented me from really being on her bandwagon, and not without guilt ... There wasn't any passion in her voice. It seemed too measured, too calculated," said Brown, 60. "I think ... what New Hampshire did is re-establish that connection."

The candidate herself said plenty of male presidents have shown feelings, but it was more of a risk for a woman.

"Obviously, we know what people will say, but maybe I have liberated us to actually let women be human beings in public life," Clinton said in an interview with Fox News.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, wasn't sure Clinton's comeback was due entirely to one emotional moment, but said support from women voters was critical.