Same old song and dance -- without Aerosmith

So, Hillary Clinton pulls off the unexpected victory in New Hampshire even though before the primary, polling data showed her trailing by as much as double digit points behind Obama. The embarrassment of Iowa, all but forgotten.

In a pre-primary newsconference, Clinton choked back tears as she reaffirmed her committment to carry on in the face of the Iowa loss and the brutal media coverage that came with it. This demonstrated to the voters that the usually rock-solid chick candidate had a soft side. We were made to feel her pain (in the words of another Clinton)

Fast forward to the closing of the polls in NH. Exit polling painted a very different picture than the day before. Oddly enough, the voters seemed to flock to her side. Did we feel for her plight and give her the support she was supposed to get in Iowa?

I think not.

Sure, the tears may have moved some people--a few; the weak minded, most likely. But I propose a different answer. One that has been demonstrated before.

In 1992, the buzz surrounding Bill Cinton's campaign was shattered by the Gennifer Flowers scandal. Clinton's aspirations appeared derailed like those of so many other big name dems from years past (Gary Hart comes to mind). But then there was a heartfelt appearance on 60 Minutes with his wife at his side. He was apologetic, ashamed, nearly tearful about the affair (as I recall). This sensitive display seemed to carry weight with the voters of the time by rebounding Clinton to come in respectable second place to Mass Sen. Paul Tsongas. Clinton then dubbed himself "The comeback Kid". Sound familiar yet?

With the Clinton's, nothing-NOTHING-is coincedental.

But tears alone won't have the effect that these two have shared. There's a funny little thing about NH voter registration. One can register the day of the primary--at the polling place, no less. The residencey restrictions are virtually non-existent. If there is an address in NH that you sometimes sleep at...or one you think you may want to live at sometime in the future, your in!

Its been widely speculated in the last few elections that voters are imported to place with these lax requirements to fluff up the numbers of a particular candidate who needs them. It doesn't take much to round up a few bus loads of homeless people, pay them a meager sum of money, and take them somewhere to vote. Or even using the personal info of the dead to obtain voter registration. I have no doubt that is what happened in NH in 92 and again in 08.

Nothing with Clintons is coincedence.

^JR^