Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Planted Questions at an Iowa Event
Cross posted at Grizzly Groundswell
Part of what makes the New Hampshire primary great, at least in the eyes of us New Hampshirites, is the fact that the candidates can be up close and personal. Many events are held all over the state where there is an intimate setting and voters can really get to ask candidates anything. It helps to git voters to know the candidates better than perhaps you can in a larger state. From what I understand, Iowa is the same way. So when Hillary Clinton goes into Iowa and really connects with an intimate crowd in a one-on-one situation that is totally spontaneous, uh what- oh, it appears as though her meetings weren’t quite as spontaneous as we were led to believe.
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.
I seem to remember something like this happening to President Bush a couple of years ago. I can’t quite remember the details, but wasn’t he seen on video rehearsing answers to an event that was supposed to be spontaneous? Perhaps someone out there can fill me in on those details. I do remember that a huge deal was made out of it by the media though. Now the media darling, Hillary Clinton is exposed for putting plants in her audience, I can’t wait to see the media react to this. It goes without saying that the media hasn’t reacted to this. It has been swept under the rug by the media, never to be heard again. However, two of the other Democrat candidates have come out against this practice.
The practice of planting audience members to ask specific questions does not appear to be a common practice, or at least not a politically acceptable one. “Our campaign does not plant questions,” said Lauren Rose, Communications Director for Governor Bill Richardson’s campaign. When asked what she would think of other campaigns who did plant audience members, Rose said, “I think campaigns should give Iowa caucus-goers the chance to ask the questions they want.”
When asked if the John Edwards campaign employed such practices, Jenni Lee, Edwards’s Iowa Press Secretary said, “No, they ask whatever they want.”
But Mrs. Clinton is just a girl, stop piling on her, stop picking on a girl. You mean, evil Democrats, you are no better than Republicans. That was the strategy Hillary first tried to use after her disastrous debate the other day. Why not play the gender card here also.
Did the Hillary campaign deny the charges, you decide:
But the Clinton campaign also denied the practice of planting. “It’s not a practice of our campaign to ask people to ask specific questions,” said Mark Daley, Clinton’s Iowa Communications Director. Daley said that when an event is focusing on a specific topic, such as health care or Iraq, “people are encouraged to ask questions in these regards,” but denied that they are given specific questions.
But when directly asked if his statements meant that planting does not occur in the Hillary campaign, Daley could only say, “to the best of my knowledge.”
“[Planting] is not something that is encouraged in our campaign,” he said.
That doesn’t sound like a denial to me, It sounds like someone hedging their bets. Stay tuned, I’m sure someone will come out and clarify Hillary Clinton’s position on this. They always do. They always have to. Perhaps she should answer a question directly, then there would be no need to clarify.
Read the article this post was based on here.
America's Watchtower 
I saw the actual question being asked today and I had to crack up. When you know ahead of the time the question has been planned it looks ridiculous. Then, when Hillary answers the global warming question she says the girl should be worried. Oh yah, thats the inspiring answer I want to hear from my presidential candidate, them telling me I should be worrying about something. That inspires so much faith, sounds like Jimmy Carter to me.
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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–
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That was interesting Randy. We need to remember that there is nothing in the Clinton’s life that isn’t scripted for them. Their every move is planned in advance. They are like political robots. And they are well tuned. Let’s hope we can stop them.
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Why I post on Red Sox Blog 11-27-07
Written by Peter Macdonald 465 Packersfalls rd Lee NH 03824 603-659-6217
You may not be NH residents. You are U.S. citizens and Veterans give their lives for citizens no matter what state they come from. NH has violated the law and Constitution to inflict pain and suffering on my family and me because I volunteer my time to help a Madbury NH family that the selectmen openly brag about destroying residents they do not think belong in their town. I had never met this family before they became so desperate they asked for my help because of a letter to the editor that I wrote. I do not even live in Madbury NH. I am 100% disabled. I was injured three times during my tour. Twice during combat related missions during the Vietnam Conflict. My PTSD was diagnosed only this past year because I never talked about my experiences until I wrote a book and they became public. I have relived my Convoy’s as an American Advisor and my first kill every day since my return in 74. I just never believe any one needed to know the dirty parts of a conflict. We as veterans are not fighting for you (people we do not know) we are fighting for our nation and the freedom it brings.
I do not ask people to put them selves in harms way. What Veteran’s give the U.S. can never be explained. What we did and the lives we lived over there is not possible for you that have never served to conceive. When newspapers and media feel that the words of a disabled veteran being tortured by the NH courts and government to silence his free speech is not worth informing the public we as a free nation no longer exist. I have violated no laws. What I ask people to do is talk about me to your elected officials, letters to your editor or blogs, I continue to help this Madbury family because they could be any of you. Freedom is worth fighting for and I can not let what so many Veterans that gave over the history of the U.S. be diminished by illegal government acts.
I use the RD blog because I used them as a crutch during my tour. If you Google my name and Lee NH you can read my letters in full. Peter Macdonald Sgt USMC Semper Fi
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