CNN's Borger: Clinton is “a robo-candidate” who “suddenly ... show[ed] some humanity”

Written by Lauren Auerbach

Published

On the January 9 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, while discussing whether Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) emotional remarks during a January 6 campaign event contributed to her victory in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, senior political analyst Gloria Borger called Clinton a “robo-candidate” who “suddenly ... show[ed] some humanity.”

From the discussion on the January 9 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, featuring Borger, host Wolf Blitzer, commentator Jack Cafferty, and legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin:

BLITZER: Here's the most intriguing comment that Hillary Clinton made in her victory speech, I thought, last night.

CLINTON [video clip]: I want especially to thank New Hampshire. Over the last week, I listened to you, and in the process, I found my own voice.

BLITZER: What do you think, Jack?

CAFFERTY: I think that's one of the better lines of the entire campaign. I'm not sure exactly --

TOOBIN: Can you say what it means?

CAFFERTY: I was going to say, I'm not sure exactly -- I'm not sure I know what it means.

BORGER: It sounds good.

TOOBIN: It does sound good.

CAFFERTY: Boy, is it a great line. No, it's a good line. It's a little bit of that humanity thing again that we don't see a lot of out of Hillary and that we saw in the diner on Monday and that I will go to my grave convinced is what drove her to the victory last night.

BORGER: All I can say, Jack, is, whoever thought that tearing up would be a really good career move for a woman.

TOOBIN: For a woman.

BORGER: Never. I never thought so. But when you have a robo-candidate and suddenly she shows some humanity -- and there are those people who believe it wasn't real, but I actually do believe it was real -- it actually helped her.

TOOBIN: And there is a sort of wonderful historical circle with -- you know, in the same state where Ed Muskie's career went up in flames because he cried, perhaps Hillary Clinton is being politically resurrected because she misted up. I mean, I still am a little skeptical about this whole misting up -- the significance of it. But apparently -- I mean, the people in her campaign seem to think it's important. Jack Cafferty thinks it's important, so it must be important.