PORTSMOUTH, N.H., Jan. 7 Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, who recently lost her front-runner status, teared up Monday at a campaign stop in New Hampshire.
The New York senator, fielding a question about how she keeps herself together amid the rigors of campaigning, said "It's not easy," The Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
"This is very personal for me. It's not just public. I see what's happening. We have to reverse it," said Clinton, who is now trailing Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in New Hampshire polls.
"And some people think elections are a game. They think it's who's up or who's down. Some of us put ourselves out here and do this against some pretty difficult odds. And we do it -- each one of us -- because we care about our country," Clinton was quoted by the newspaper as saying.
One friend of Clinton attending the Portsmouth event said she had only seen Clinton moved like this once in decades, and it happened in private, The New York Times reported.
"You saw there was a moment when it flicked inward - it was her inner being answering, 'Why am I doing this?' " said Gloria Cabe, a former aide to Clinton in Arkansas.
Copyright 2008 by UPI