Human Hillary?

Clinton Gets Emotional on Campaign Trail

The Senator from New York was sitting at a big table in Cafe Espresso in Portsmouth, New Hampshire with 16 undecided voters, mostly women, warmly and calmly taking questions.

Then she took an unexpected question from a woman standing in the back.

"My question is very personal, how do you do it?" asked Marianne Pernold Young, a freelance photographer from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She mentioned Clinton's hair and appearance always looking perfectly coifed. "How do you, how do you keep upbeat and so wonderful?"

Clinton began responding, jokingly. First talking about her hair: "You know, I think, well luckily, on special days I do have help. If you see me every day and if you look on some of the websites and listen to some of the commentators they always find me on the day I didn't have help. It's not easy."

But then, Clinton began getting emotional: "It's not easy, and I couldn't do it if I didn't passionately believe it was the right thing to do. You know, I have so many opportunities from this country just don't want to see us fall backwards," she said.

Her voice breaking and tears in her eyes, she said, "You know, this is very personal for me. It's not just political it's not just public..." [***]

After the event, Pernold Young told ABC News that she was glad Clinton showed emotion.

"She allowed herself to feel," Pernold Young said. " I was surprised and I said, 'wow there's someone there.'"

Another woman in the group, Alison Hamilton of Portsmouth, New Hampshire said she, like most of the people in the group, had been considering Obama.

But after seeing Clinton become emotional, she said she was going to vote for Clinton.

She may have unintentionally given herself a much needed boost.