HILLARY FINDS HER OWN VOICE?

I thought what Hillary Clinton offered Democrat voters was experience. She said she had 35 years of it under her belt.

On Tuesday night, after her upset victory over media darling golden boy Barack Obama, Hillary told her supporters and the nation that something magical happened to her over the last week since she lost in Iowa.

She found her own voice.

I didn't realize that this brilliant woman with decades of experience had still been searching for a voice. How can one be experienced and ready to lead without command of one's voice?

Remarks following the New Hampshire primary

Thank you. Thank you so much. I come tonight with a very, very full heart. And I want especially to thank New Hampshire. Over the last week, I listened to you and in the process, I found my own voice.

I felt like we all spoke from our hearts, and I am so gratified that you responded. Now, together, let's give America the kind of comeback that New Hampshire has just given me.

For all the ups and downs of this campaign, you helped remind everyone that politics isn't a game. This campaign is about people. It's about making a difference in your lives. It’s about making sure that everyone in this country has the opportunity to live up to his or her God-given potential. That has been the work of my life.

"Over the last week, I listened to you and in the process, I found my own voice."

I think that is such a bizarre statement for her to make after building her campaign around experience.

Suddenly, she paints herself as previously floundering and uncertain. I don't think that's wise. It sounds like she was wrong when she claimed to be ready to lead.

You can't lead if you don't have a voice.

Whatever. It doesn't matter that she's not making sense.

What matters is that she found the formula for success.

AP writer Beth Fouhy writes:

Maybe it was the sight of a strong woman finally showing some emotion.

Or maybe it was the "guys" beating her up in a weekend debate.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, rocked in Iowa just days ago, scored an upset victory against Barack Obama in the state that salvaged her husband's first run for president 16 years ago.

It was female voters who breathed new life into her campaign.

Weekend polling indicated Clinton and Barack Obama were running about even among women, but the former first lady went on to best Obama among women by 13-percentage points. Women also voted in much larger numbers than men.

What changed during that brief period? Clinton — looking vulnerable and human.

So looking vulnerable is what made Hillary appealing to New Hampshire voters.

Did Hillary skate to victory on the sympathy vote?

She choked up Monday when asked how she mustered the energy to campaign each day — a startling display from a woman so tough she appears at times to be cloaked in armor.

Many skeptics viewed the unexpected show of emotion as more Clintonian calculation, especially since it came as she delivered a stinging rebuke of Obama.

"I just don't want to see us fall backward as a nation," she said, voice breaking.

But another totemic moment came in a televised debate Saturday, when she defended herself against Obama and John Edwards as they appeared to double-team against her. And an Obama crack at Clinton about her likability — "You're likable enough" — seemed gratuitous and ungracious.

Yes. Obama didn't handle his Iowa victory well.

Rather than having the strength of character to be humbled by his success and prepare to take on the responsibility of leadership, I think it went to his head, ego run amok. He believed his own press. He was the candidate of destiny. He was in the same league as Martin Luther King.

It's ironic that a debate question about Hillary's negatives and Obama's likability turned out to reveal an unlikable side of Obama.

To be sure, Obama's message of change continued to be a powerful draw — a matter Clinton will have to contend with as she retools her message going forward.

More than half of Democratic voters were looking for a candidate who could bring changes, while only 20 percent said they were looking for experience. It's been a nagging problem for Clinton, whose long career in public life has made her an unlikely standard-bearer for the kind of transformation voters crave.

But fewer young voters turned out for Obama as they did in Iowa, depriving Obama of crucial support. And he lost many independents to Republican John McCain, who won his party's primary in the state.

Apparently, the voters think Hillary can deliver change. She won.

If half of Dem voters were looking for a candidate who could bring changes, Hillary received some of their votes. Change doesn't necessarily mean Obama.

Clinton advisers are now scrambling to determine their strategy after their surprise emergence from the post-Iowa freefall. Clinton was expected to huddle with them Wednesday about her plans going forward before returning to the campaign trail Thursday.

That's goofy.

Why do Clinton advisers need to scramble to determine their strategy?

Weren't they listening to Hillary?

She found her own voice, didn't she?

If she truly found her voice, she should have a throat lozenge. What more does she need?