Marianne Pernold Young almost didn't ask Hillary Clinton her question. She wanted to know how the candidate survived the campaign trail but, she said, "Every time I thought about asking it, I got nervous, thinking it's a silly question, they'll laugh at me, because everyone else was asking issue questions."

In the end, it was the question from the 64-year-old freelance photographer from Portsmouth that caused Clinton to tear up Monday, and became a defining moment on the campaign trail.

After Clinton defied the pollsters and won the primary by three percentage points, with a large margin of support among women, top advisers and pundits pointed to the tears as a breakthrough moment in her campaign. "People saw who she was," former president Bill Clinton told the Telegraph. The moment "showed the human side of Hillary Clinton, the passionate side," Clinton adviser Terry McAuliffe told the Chicago Tribune.

Young seems stunned at the attention her question and Clinton's answer have gotten. "Mine was a very sincere and caring question from one woman to another, that's all it was. It's amazing how it's steamrolled," she said. "I think it's remarkable how one person, one little question, can make such a difference."

Going into the event, Young was an undecided voter. She was debating between Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards, and wanted to see each of them in person. She tried going to a Clinton rally Sunday night, but was shut out because of fire codes. New Hampshire House Speaker Terie Norelli, a friend of Young's who has campaigned for Clinton, asked a campaign worker to invite Young to the coffee hour with Clinton at Cafe Espresso.

Young had been wondering for about a month how Clinton kept up her frenetic schedule, after Norelli revealed how exhausting it was to travel with her. She thought about asking Clinton but didn't know whether to speak up.

Finally, after Clinton's aide told the candidate it was time to leave, Young grabbed the microphone. "I started talking and I didn't know what was going to come out," she said.

What came out was the question, "How do you do it?" And in response, the generally stoic candidate choked up. "It's not easy," Clinton said, and her voice broke as she told Young, "This is very personal for me." Clinton talked about her passion for fixing the country, and the difficulties of eating right and exercising on the campaign trail.

"Her response shocked me," Young said. "It also pleased me that she showed her vulnerable side, her sensitivity. I think she was genuinely surprised someone would ask personal questions about her."

Afterward, Young said, "I said, 'Boy, she's phenomenal.' . . . I loved what she did."

But Young did not make a final decision until she entered the voting booth on Tuesday. She cast her ballot for Barack Obama.

Why? "He made me cry."

By SHIRA SCHOENBERG

Monitor staff