No, really, that is just the way Hillary Clinton laughs
Sep 22, 2015, 6:16 AM | Updated: Sep 23, 2015, 11:03 am
(AP Photo/Jim Cole)
It happened Sunday on Face The Nation, right at the end. It was sharp, quick and seemed a little too enthusiastic.
People think that laugh Hillary Clinton bellowed was a phony laugh, which is bad because it’s in answer to a question about being a real person. But let’s be fair here. Let’s compare it to the other three major laughs from the Face The Nation interview. The first one came as John Dickerson re-played her famous 3 a.m. phone call ad from 2008.
The laugh carried a conversational tone, with notes of nostalgia and an ease of delivery that greeted the ear. There were 12 ha’s in that one, but the last five were prompted by John’s “throwback Sunday comment” and they seemed genuine.
Laugh number two came in response to John asking if there was no one to tell her the email server was a bad idea.
That laugh was quick to respond, sharp, with a hint of fatigue, probably from answering similar questions for some time now, yet with an up-beat.
And then laugh number three, which came in response to the idea that she’s an insider in a year when voters want an outsider.
This laugh was commanding, with notes of anxiety and sprinkled with a forced delivery that struck the ear. It had 10 ha’s, and did seem kind of forced, but probably because she was thinking back to all the times Mr. Obama ignored her insider advice.
So in that context, I think the laugh we started out with is not really out of line with the other three. I think that’s just how Hillary Clinton laughs. And in any case, let’s remember, that in politics, when it comes to laughing, it’s not about doing it best — it’s about doing it last.