On the February 22 edition of MSBNC Live, Dan Hill, author of Emotionomics: Winning Hearts and Minds (Adams Business & Professional Publishing, 2007), claimed that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is “often showing what I would call almost a 'crocodile smile.' It's a bit of a smirk. It's also a very tight expression." NBC News correspondent Peter Alexander replied: " 'Crocodile smile,' we will add that to our lexicon. Dan Hill, a facial decoding expert." Hill also claimed that during the February 21 Democratic presidential debate Clinton “had a true smile, which for Hillary Clinton, is about as rare as a lunar eclipse, I have to tell you.”

Hill's reference to a “crocodile smile” is not the first example of media commentators suggesting that Clinton was faking emotion. During a January campaign event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in which Clinton's voice broke as she talked about why she is seeking the presidency, several media figures baselessly claimed that Clinton's actions were not “genuine” or were “pretend[].” On the September 24, 2007, edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Fox News body language expert Tonya Reiman asserted that Clinton exhibited “contrived” laughter during an interview on Fox News Sunday, adding: “You can kind of tell a lot from the length of time that someone branches out with a smile. Real, genuine smiles are quick. They flash. She went into a full body laughter, which is bizarre for this kind of an interview.” Also,during the August 7, 2007, edition of MSNBC's Hardball, after NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell said that Clinton “has to show some personality and some likability, because she really has to show that she's approachable and a little bit softer than she's been in the past,” host Chris Matthews replied: “I know. She has to smile when she puts the knife in.”

From the 11 a.m. ET hour of the February 22 edition of MSNBC Live:

ALEXANDER: And then Clinton has been criticized for looking insincere at times, even “stiff” I think some people have described her, but there was a pretty compelling moment when she showed what seemed like a very genuine smile, almost as if she was impressed by one of [Sen. Barack] Obama's [D-IL] comments. We're going to put those moments up and have you compare them. So explain those to us.

HILL: Sure.

ALEXANDER: We're going to put them up on the screen, so explain those moments. You know those moments. You know the ones that I'm referring to specifically.

HILL: Yeah. What happened is she -- she tried to say, you know, it's time for the American voters to “get real.” The suggestion was that Obama's not for real. He turned it back on her. He said, you know, are you suggesting the American voters are fools, that they have been deluded as to the strength of my candidacy? His answer was so good that Hillary Clinton, who has had a problem at getting to a genuine smile, couldn't help herself. She admired his answer and she had a true smile, which for Hillary Clinton is about as rare as a lunar eclipse, I have to tell you.

ALEXANDER: I mean, Dan -- Dan, the real bottom-line question here is what do people make of this? I know we talk to you, and you've written a book about it, but do you think people at home really even notice these -- these little expressions? Why are they significant? What difference do they make in a giant campaign with real issues at stake?

HILL: I think they make a difference, because we're looking for do we trust the messenger? Yes, there are messages, but you saw this in the last race, where Bush used a flip-flopper charge against [Sen. John] Kerry. You go back to '84, you know, the “where's the beef” line that [Walter] Mondale used against [Gary] Hart. If you sense that the body language of the person is genuine, relaxed, enjoying themselves. And, you know, Obama managed to laugh at himself last night. Hillary Clinton has always had a problem with this. It's her ambition that everyone believes in, but whether she is warm and likable, that's been the issue. And she's often showing what I would call almost a “crocodile smile.” It's a bit of a smirk. It's also a very tight expression, and the more she loses, the more she has had difficulty warming up to the audience.

ALEXANDER: Crocodile smile, we will add that to our lexicon. Dan Hill, a facial decoding expert.

HILL: Sure.

ALEXANDER: Dan Hill, thank you.