The reviews are in and Hillary Clinton was a success on CNN’s live town hall tonight. Part of her book tour discussing her new memoir, “Hard Choices,” about her time as Secretary of State, Clinton took questions from in-studio town hall participants and online questions from viewers nationwide. Her answers were candid, insightful, personal and at times funny. She connected with Americans on a deep level. Read a sample of the reviews, below.
CNN Contributors
Jake Tapper: “I thought it was her at her best in terms of relating to an audience.”
Jake Tapper: “I’ve seen her in a lot of different formats. This was her at her best campaign format. She was on message and really tried to relate to the audience.”
Jake Tapper: “There were a couple moments where you could tell when she really was speaking in a way that was not as a candidate.”
John King: “The greatest value was the diversity of the questions and the back and forth.”
John King: “She has a great sense of humor. She doesn’t always get to show it. We did see some of it. Like her or not, she is pretty of funny.”
John King: “She was clearly interested in moving on and discussing a lot of subjects.”
John King: “People always try to put Hillary Clinton in a box and she has constantly evolved, we have all evolved, but she has evolved in a very public way.”
Christiane Amanpour: “What I honestly genuinely think, it is so valuable to hear what people want to ask her and not just what we want to ask her. And I was very impressed by, as you said, the diversity of the questions. All of this was substantive.”
Wolf Blitzer: “If there was any question about her health, certainly did not indicate any problems at all. She was lively, she was feisty, she was talkative. She certainly was alert and she wanted to explain her positions.”
Maggie Haberman: “I think she did very well. She got looser as time went on. I still don’t hear any kind of overarching theme from what a candidacy would be like. Her discussion was very much like her book, which is a series of related issues. There was no sort of over arching message. But she was much more candid than she has been. She was much more open than she has been. She did show flashes of humor, and you did see at the end she addressed the question of grandmother. She said there were a lot of grandfathers who have been president too and that’s the first time I’ve heard her say that.”
Time’s Michael Scherer: “Does anyone think there is a GOP 16er who could handle Clinton’s sked of long, harsh interview on policy, substance?” According to a tweet by Time’s Michael Scherer during Sec. Clinton’s CNN Town Hall: [email protected] Does anyone think there is a GOP 16er who could handle Clinton’s sked of long, harsh interviews on policy, substance?” [Michael Scherer, Twitter, 6/17/14]
CNN Graphic Producer Christina Manduley: #CNNTownHall was the number 1 trend in the country during Sec. Clinton’s live town hall event. According to CNN Graphic Producer Christina Manduley, [email protected] : We managed to trend #CNNTownHall #1 in the country with all our hard work! #gothere @cnnpr http://cnn.it/1lBUdMB pic.twitter.com/BYPO6b7w4j” [Christina Manduley, Twitter, 6/17/14]
Articles
Politico: “Clinton appeared relaxed and measured during both sessions, looking more comfortable as the minutes wore on.” “The hour-long gathering at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., was part of a one-two cable news punch by Clinton, a potential 2016 presidential candidate who is promoting her new memoir, “Hard Choices.” The CNN event, during which she took questions directly from the audience, ended 45 minutes before she did a live interview with Fox News. Clinton appeared relaxed and measured during both sessions, looking more comfortable as the minutes wore on.” [Politico, 6/17/14]