Kerry's crocodile tears were as phony, as Clinton's
Woman's plight pushes Kerry to tears
DERRY, N.H — On Day Two of his presidential announcement tour, Democrat John Kerry took a leap forward in dispelling his image as aloof. He cried.
The setting: a half-dozen New Hampshire residents sharing their woes with the Massachusetts senator in a panel discussion at a diner so carefully arranged that it resembled a stage set. Forget intimacy. About 50 reporters, photographers and TV cameras bore witness, not to mention a Kerry campaign ad team capturing it all on tape for potential future use.
Barbara Woodman, 46, of Concord provoked Kerry's tears. She had been laid off from two jobs as a medical bibliographer and said she's trying to get "any office-related job."
There was a pause. "That's very moving, it really is," Kerry said in a broken voice, his eyes welling. He brushed aside a tear and then, as the next unemployed person began her tale, wiped away another.
Aides said the only other time Kerry has cried on the campaign trail was in May when he announced a national service program and referred to his mother, for whom he had recently attended a memorial service. That was also in New Hampshire, site of the first primary on Jan. 27.