Hillary Clinton’s Planted Questions
Posted on November 10, 2007
Update: A second accusation of planting questions. Is it all downhill from here? The downward spiral begins.
In a telephone interview Saturday, Geoffrey Mitchell, 32, said he was approached by Clinton campaign worker Chris Hayler to ask a question about how she was standing up to President Bush on the question on funding the Iraq war and a troop withdrawal timeline.
The encounter happened before an event hosted by Iowa State Sen. Gene Frais on a farm outside Fort Madison, Iowa.
Clinton’s Iowa campaign confirmed to Fox News that one of its staff discussed questions with Mitchell before her April 2 event, but denied attempting to plant a pro-Clinton question.
Mo Elliethee, spokesman for Clinton’s campaign in Iowa, told Fox that Hayler and Mitchell “had a previous relationship” and that a discussion about Clinton arose out of a normal conversation between two people who knew each other well.
“They had a previous relationship and were talking before the event and the topic of the senator’s position on Iraq came up and Geoffrey said he had some questions,” Elliethee said. “Chris suggested Geoffrey ask a question.”
I guess more than one plant is the start of a garden.
When a crooked politician has difficulty under pressure to give a straight answer to a simple question, the next step is to plant the questions. At least that is the logic the disasterous Clinton campaign follows.
Via Hot Air
The Iowa caucuses are known for their “living-room chats†where ordinary Iowans can meet candidates face-to-face and talk about what interests voters. When candidates have larger events or make major policy speeches, the crowds are bigger, but there is often still an opportunity for questions. But under the pressures of major media coverage, with polls narrowing in Iowa, campaigns can potentially control questions and coverage by planning questions ahead of time.
While no campaigns admit to this practice, at a recent Hillary Clinton campaign event in Newton, Iowa, some of the questions posed to the New York Senator were planned in advance, planting some audience members in the crowd.
On Tuesday Nov. 6, the Clinton campaign stopped at a biodiesel plant in Newton as part of a weeklong series of events to introduce her new energy plan. The event was clearly intended to be as much about the press as the Iowa voters in attendance, as a large press core helped fill the small venue. Reporters from many major national news outlets came to the small Iowa town, from such media giants as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press, and CNN.
After her speech, Clinton accepted questions. But according to Grinnell College student Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff ’10, some of the questions from the audience were planned in advance. “They were canned,†she said. Before the event began, a Clinton staff member approached Gallo-Chasanoff to ask a specific question after Clinton’s speech. “One of the senior staffers told me what [to ask],†she said.
What I find amusing is that for all the whining of Hillary about people “piling on” on and picking on her…out of all the attacks on her, she does more damage to herself than anyone else could hope for. I’m a bit surprised at just how disastrous her campaign is becoming. I’m sure her campaign are in panic mode from what they thought was going to be a hsu in candidate.
As always with the Clintons, the compromising of integrity doesn’t bother them….until they get caught.
Without integrity, politicians and news agencies are absolutely nothing. They are game-show hosts, only less intellectual. If they have to fix games, it means they already know they’re losers. Even the Black Sox had more integrity than that.
Unable to handle real questions from real reporters, Mrs. Clinton has taken to having gullible college students ask her softball at those townhall meetings she’s holding.
Did I say softball? I meant T-ball.
Hillary may think it takes a village to raise a child, but apparently it only takes one person to have a conversation – as long as you have an aide planting questions. Bill can’t take responsibility for this one. I guess the aide will have to do.
It’s only “another blow” to those who ever thought of the New York senator as a trustworthy politician. Given her history, that wouldn’t be me.
Warner Todd Huston wonders where all the MSM coverage is?
Michelle Malkin gathers up the pile on!
Also see: Scrappleface
» Filed Under 1st Amendment, News, Politics As Usual, Video
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11 Responses to “Hillary Clinton’s Planted Questions”
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“One of the senior staffers told me what [to ask]‘
Do not we all voters are barked at (to get attention) by the Media pundits how we have to think, why we have to vote or not vote particular candidate?
Look at number of Political Pundits (totally polarized fanatically) in the media whose goal is only to plant their dogmatic views (mostly self serving) on voters mind?
Wake up voters. Do not listen to these craps like †that one is holier than otherâ€. All politicians in one way or the other are crooks. It is the last resort to scoundrels.
You got to choose the one that is least harmful to this great country; you have plenty of time to do that – a year. Till then, just watch the fun. Do not get planted.
Didn’t Bill Clinton do this when he was stumping for Prez?
“Sen. Clinton, how does it make you feel when you get caught planting softball questions…similar to the one I’m asking you now?”
UPDATE: Fox News is now reporting on another Q & A planting incident by the Clinton campaign. Here’s an excerpt and the link:
link
“IT WAS NEWS TO ME,” SAYS SHE
Hillary Clinton declines to speak to the issues – or at least provide real answers to real questions, while opting for the more PC Global Warming ones – even if she has to script them herself. How else could the Clinton staged media report Hillary’s remarkable comeback, after the Illegal Alien Driver’s License (Gotcha) debacle.
But like a good many Americans (and many good Americans), I don’t want that duo back in the White House. With the Clintons, what is past is prologue. And Hillary will come back swinging. Then there’s the incidence of Al Qaeda flight students, trained at the University of Bill Clinton. Why does this remain a non-issue? Albert Einstein said, “The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it:†http://theseedsof9-11.com
Hillary: Positively Pandering, Definitely Duplicitous, and Ultimately Unelectable.
Planting quetsions is just what one should expect from Hillary Clinton when she strives for power.
They have a 2 million hits YouTube site that pretends to be just progressive but shrills for Hillary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvzmblfSK88
Whole Hillary’s campaign is controversial. At first, I thought she is a good candidate but her campaign shows that she can’t be taken seriously. I started to change my mind about her when she struggled to give straight answers to simple questions. Next, I get very disappointed when I watched this video which proves that she plants questions during her campaign appearance. Shame on you, Hillary!
Hillary’s planted questions have been going on for months, and the only amazing part of the story is that the media has taken so long to pick up on what has been happening with her campaign. When Hillary spoke at the Quality Inn/Highlander in Iowa City on April 3, 2007, she arrived late and kept the crowd waiting for about 40 minutes as she huddled in a back room with Johnson County (Iowa) and Des Moines party functionaries. Once she was introduced by Johnson Co. Supervisor Sally Stutsman and former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack, she gave her prepared speech and then took about a half-hour’s worth of questions from the audience, which surrounded her on four sides with Hillary at the middle of the indoor open square space.
To put on the appearance of herself as the family values/loves kids candidate, about midway through her Q & A session Hillary took a rather long and highly scripted question which a schoolgirl spent about a minute reading from a piece of paper she (the girl herself) held, as the girl faced in the direction of the media risers and their cameras. The girl had been positioned in the front row, at the center of her quadrant of the audience. After Hillary gave her “isn’t that cute” response, evidently imitated from the style pioneered by Art Linkletter half a century ago, she resumed taking questions from adults.
Finally, after another 10-15 minutes of Hillary ignoring children, Christie Vilsack rose and interjected, “it’s almost time to go, time for one more question.” On that signal, Hillary went straight to a schoolboy located in the front row, middle of the audience, 180 degrees opposite from the schoolgirl. Once Hillary gave another “isn’t that cute” response to the boy with his back to the cameras, the Q & A was indeed over, and the crowd started dispersing.
The whole thing was as patently contrived at the schoolkids who provided “happy Chinese children” background for Nixon on his historic trip to China, viz. kids who had their jump ropes and hair ribbons confiscated as soon as Nixon left his outdoor appearance site. So, I went to look over the kids in the Quality/Highlander audience a little more closely. The girl and her mother were rewarded by having their picture taken with Hillary. The boy was wearing a Hillary staff badge. Just prior to this event, Hillary had promised ex-Gov. Tom Vilsack, who was there with Christie, that she would help him retire his campaign debt from his recently failed presidential bid. –END–
As much as I’d like to see a woman president, I don’t trust Hillary as far as I can throw her.
Where was all this outrage when Bush was hand screening his audiences and keeping protesters miles away?