Campaign Trail of Tears

Something funny is going on out on the campaign trail of late. The fragile, emotional side of two of our candidates have miraculously surfaced for all to see. Yes, eyes have moistened and shutters have clicked. Coincidentally, the tears in question have come to us from the very two people who have often been accused of possessing cold, even robotic personalities. I speak of Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney.

Political Machine's Denise Williams recently chronicled the curious welling up of Clinton's eyes at a rally that her campaign described as designed to show her human side. Great timing, no? You can bet there will be more glassy-eyed moments to come.

Hillary's "I am not an automaton" tour is in full swing in Iowa. The show consists largely of testimonials from friends, converts, etc. You see, she knows that the best way to increase her likability numbers is for her to hand the microphone over to genuinely likable people.

Today's Boston Globe details Romney's newly minted emotional dispalys.

"I'm a normal person. I have emotions," Romney told reporters in New Hampshire. "I'm not ashamed of that at all."

And yet several former associates said yesterday that they were struck by the sudden display of emotion from a man known more for crunching data and giving PowerPoint presentations.

"I never saw him mist up during the 2002 campaign," said Ben Coes, who managed that campaign for governor.

First, Romney cried after he delivered his much-hyped "Faith in America" speech. Then he cried on Sunday's Meet the Press when he remembered crying when he heard that the Mormon Church would stop discriminating against blacks in 1978. Then on Monday, Romney went misty when repeating his often-delivered stump spiel about watching a flag-draped casket arrive at Logan airport.

Of course, one might not be so cynical about Romney's tears were it not for one of his now-famous PowerPoint presentations back in February. In it, Romney laid out his battle plan to win the nomination. Included in the 77-slide document was, among other things, a push for Romney to deliver his JFK-Mormon speech at the Bush library, and an admission that Mitt's hair might be "too perfect." Humanizing Romney has been on the campaign's radar screen (not to mention its PowerPoint screen) for a while.

Are these two candidates actually real human beings? Sure. Are they mustering tears to try and help you better answer that question? One moment, I need a tissue.

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