February 4th, 2008 11:40 AM Eastern
Alma Mater Welcomes Coughing Clinton
by Aaron Bruns
Hillary Clinton returned to her old law school on the day before Super Tuesday, holding a roundtable discussion on health care and the economy at the Yale Child Study Center.
A doctor who once worked with Cinton on campus, Penn Rhodes, remembered when a young Hillary turned up decked out in purple and wearing bell bottoms. “You looked so 1972,” he joked.
But his serious expression of pride in Sen Clinton’s accomplishments hit home for Hillary.
“I said I would not tear up,” she said after Rhodes’ intrduction. “Already we’re not exactly on that path.”
The emotional moment recalled the now-famous incident at a similar roundtable in Portsmouth, NH the day before the New Hampshire primary. Clinton won the stae by two points, completing a remarkable comeback that many observers attributed to that glimpse of the senator’s human side.
This time, though, it wasn’t Clinton’s crying but her coughing that dominated the event. Though she insisted last night on her plane that she’s feeing fine, a string of long days on the campaign trail have led to a scratchy voice and a cough that comes and goes. In the midde of today’s event, it came in a big way. 5 aides rushed out of the room to fetch a lozenge as she struggled to control the cough — asking the participants at the tale to continue.
But as she always does, Sen Clinton recovered to make the case for her health care plan and explain her ideas to fix the housing crisis.
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