Joe Klein: Earlier in the year, Clinton spoke "from ... her diaphragm. Now she's speaking much more quickly again and through her nose"

Summary: On CNN, Anderson Cooper asked Joe Klein: "You actually -- you hear fear in Hillary Clinton's voice?" Klein responded: "Well, it's interesting. Earlier in the year when she was doing really well, she was speaking more slowly and from, like, her diaphragm. Now, she's speaking much more quickly again and through her nose. It's interesting."

On the December 13 edition of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, while discussing the Democratic presidential debate earlier that day, host Anderson Cooper asked Time columnist Joe Klein: "It's interesting, Joe. I mean, you've followed campaigns for a long time. You actually -- you hear fear in [Sen.] Hillary Clinton's voice?" Klein responded: "Well, it's interesting. Earlier in the year when she was doing really well, she was speaking more slowly and from, like, her diaphragm. Now, she's speaking much more quickly again and through her nose. It's interesting."

Earlier that day, Klein had written a post on Time's Swampland blog in which he asserted:

Clinton seemed a little desperate, to me at least. She was authoritative, detailed and strong on substance, as always. She cracked a few jokes, tried to seem less scripted. As noted above, that didn't always work. Also, a technical matter: When she was really clicking on the campaign trail this year, she had slowed down her pace and lowered the timbre of her voice -- made it sound warmer. Now she's back to talking fast and nasal again. I don't mind it, but others may find it abrasive.

Earlier in the year, Klein joined other commentators discussing the quality of Clinton's laugh, as Media Matters noted. In a September 30 Swampland post, he wrote: "Yes, the laugh is awkward (when staged) and yes, her campaign is focus-grouped up the wazoo. But then, so is [Sen. Barack] Obama's [D-IL] and the campaigns of all the other candidates flush enough to hire political consultants. (Obama's a more elegant speaker than Clinton but about as spontaneous as a fence post, which is a real problem for a candidate who is supposed to be the Next New Thing.)" He also wrote in a November 7 Time cover story that "Clinton has always had a problem with authenticity. Her laugh, sometimes awkwardly manufactured for public use yet always delightfully raucous in private, is Exhibit A."

From the December 13 edition of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360:

COOPER: David Gergen, where are the policy differences among these candidates?

GERGEN (CNN senior political analyst and former presidential adviser): You can't tell policy difference. There was very little daylight between them today, Anderson. You're right about that.

What I do think voters can separate out, though, is, they look for themes. And on that, I think John Edwards was the best today. He was the most focused. I think he actually walked away with some honors today.

But they also then look for the human elements. Just as we saw in the YouTube debate with the Republicans, you know, how Mike Huckabee seemed so authentic and warm, and that really helped him.

Today, I must tell you that Mrs. Clinton, who's very good on the issues, didn't have that kind of human warmth, except in a couple of places. But it was Barack Obama, I think, who was more at ease in this debate than I've ever seen him in the past Democratic debates and I think had some of that warmth.

COOPER: It's interesting, Joe. I mean, you've followed campaigns for a long time. You actually -- you hear fear in Hillary Clinton's voice?

KLEIN: Well, it's interesting. Earlier in the year when she was doing really well, she was speaking more slowly and from, like, her diaphragm. Now, she's speaking much more quickly again and through her nose. It's interesting. Other --

COOPER: How you even notice these sorts of things, I can't even imagine, but you've been doing this far too long.

KLEIN: I've been watching these people for 20 years, the Clintons.