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I hope you had a delightful holiday season. Happy New Year :-)
I agree with most of what you wrote in your last post to me, and your criticisms of Clinton and her campaign strategy. But I wasn't arguing that her problem was with her forceful response. There are many ways one can respond to a criticism or argument forcefully and effectively. She could have handled that exchange in numerous ways that could have been strong and forceful but not damaging to her in the process. I've seen that clip played over and over again, and I stick by my contention that she did herself no favors with her agitated, angry response. It felt to me at the time, and it still feels to me, as if her mask slipped for a moment, as if she lost her cool--and if some wavering, undecided Democratic primary voters saw it the same way, given her well-known and widely-discussed negatives, that moment could hurt her.
And it's not a gender thing, either--there were similar moments in the Republican debate where Romney and McCain, especially, seemed to lose their cool and I don't think it helped them either. McCain, in particular, comes across as a touchy old crank--a quality that will hurt him in the general election if he's able to secure the Republican nomination.
