That's twice...

[Gato_Solo]

the accusation has been made. At this juncture, I don't think any candidate is worth voting for, much less voting against.

 

[Inkara1]

Did you see where Steven Colbert isn't going to get to run for president in South Carolina and Barack Obama's supporters calling the South Carolina Democratic Committee is a big part of that?

 

[catocom]

At this juncture, I don't think any candidate is worth voting for, much less voting against.

I'm not voting against again, even if I have to write-in.

D Hunter has taken my vote from Tancredo, so far.

 

[chcr]

the accusation has been made. At this juncture, I don't think any candidate is worth voting for, much less voting against.

I strongly disagree. They're all worth voting against.

 

[ResearchMonkey]

No one can make you vote . . . but, the always stated rebuttal . . .

. . . there are degrees of choice, the lessor evil or the pure evil.

Pesonally, IF it came to Barrack vs Clinton in the big event. (which I'm aware can't happen) I would vote for Barrak.

If your team relies fully on offense you'll lose in defense.



Ya just gotta luv it, I'm wating to hear the Clintonista's completely unreasonable excuse of how we misunderstand what REALLY happened.

The clinton war machine in its truest form.

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

Planting people to ask favorable questions at a public appearance is the most honorable thing she's done in thirty years.

 

[jimpeel]

Planting people to ask favorable questions at a public appearance is the most honorable thing she's done in thirty years.

Interesting you should say that because Liberals are now saying that Conservatives -- the ubiquitous "they" and the "neocons" -- are planting people at her appearances to ask silly questions to try to make her sound bad.

 

[spike]

Why don't you guys complain when Bush uses planted reporters? Remember Jeff Gannon?

Or requires loyalty oaths to attend Town Hall meetings?

Don't care if he does it? Weird.

 

[Gonz]

Because Bush is a piss poor public speaker.

OK, let's assume the neocons do plant people to ask questions to make her look dumb. Why doesn't she give better answers?

 

[spike]

Because Bush is a piss poor public speaker.

So he needs them?

OK, let's assume the neocons do plant people to ask questions to make her look dumb. Why doesn't she give better answers?

I guess we'd need to know what the question and answer were.

 

[jimpeel]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7090475.stm

Clinton in planted questions row

The US presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, has criticised her aides after she was accused of taking pre-arranged questions at a rally in Iowa.

The allegation was made by a student, who said a Clinton campaign aide asked her to pose a specific question.

Mrs Clinton said she had been unaware her aides had planted the question.

Question-planting has been used in US campaigns, but is usually avoided because it can become an embarrassment for candidates when revealed.

A student at Grinnell College, Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff, told her campus newspaper she had been asked by a Clinton aide to pose a question about global warming at a rally in Newton, Iowa.

"It was news to me," Mrs Clinton said, "and neither I nor my campaign approve of that, and it will certainly not be tolerated."

Planting questions is not illicit during US elections, but the allegations could affect Mrs Clinton's campaign. She has already been accused of avoiding tough questions, analysts say.

Mrs Clinton is locked in a tough battle in the Iowa caucus with her Democratic opponents Barrack Obama and John Edwards, and the revelations could affect her standing in opinion polls.

She enjoys a commanding lead nationwide, but an upset in Iowa, which kick-starts the primary season on 3 January, could give fresh impetus to her main rivals.

 

[jimpeel]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2209382,00.html

Planted question damages Clinton in key primary state


· Team asked student to raise climate issue
· Second incident lifts veil on campaign management

Ed Pilkington in New York
Monday November 12, 2007
The Guardian


Hillary Clinton's reputation for calculated political orchestration has been enhanced after a member of her staff was caught out in the crucial primary battleground of Iowa planting a tame question in the audience.

The Clinton campaign operation in Iowa was forced to admit that it had set up the question on climate change at a town hall rally in Newton last Tuesday. The meeting had been an important set-piece for Clinton, with several members of the national media present.

After Clinton spoke, a student in the crowd was invited to pose a question. "As a young person, I'm worried about the long-term effects of global warming. How does your plan combat climate change?" the student asked.

Clinton replied: "Well, you should be worried. You know, I find as I travel around Iowa that it's usually young people who ask me about global warming."

The cover was blown on the orchestrated nature of the exchange a few days later when the Grinnell college website reported that one of its students, Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff, had been encouraged to asked the question by a Clinton employee. "One of the senior staffers told me what to ask," she said.

Clinton's spokesman admitted the question had been arranged but said: "This is not standard policy and will not be repeated again."

Over the weekend, a second case emerged of an Iowan apparently steered towards a tame question, on this occasion about Iraq at a campaign event in April.

Any appearance of crowd manipulation is highly sensitive for Clinton, as it plays to her negative image - keenly projected by her Republican opponents - as a robotic politician who will stop at nothing to get her point across.

It is particularly incendiary in Iowa, a state deeply proud of its homely caucus style of elections and suspicious of outside interference. The revelation of planted questions is also a rare insight into the nature of the election process, which has been meticulously stage-managed by all the serious candidates in both main parties. The race is more heavily funded and closely choreographed than any previous American election, yet the campaigns maintain the illusion that they are engaged in organic dialogue with voters.

This is nowhere more apparent than in Iowa, whose first count in the primary calendar on January 3 has led it to be swamped by candidates. Clinton alone has more than 200 full-time staff in the state.

 

[jimpeel]

I guess we'd need to know what the question and answer were.

Well wonder no more:

NBC's Tim Russert Asked Hillary Why She Had Two Positions On Social Security - A "Public Position" And A "Private Position."

Russert: Senator Clinton, I want to clear something up which goes to the issue of credibility. You were asked at the AARP debate whether or not you would consider taxing, lifting the cap from $97,500, taxing that, raising more money for Social Security. You said, quote, It's a no. I asked you the same question in New Hampshire, and you said no. Then you went to Iowa and you went up to Tod Bowman, a teacher, and had a conversation with him saying, I would consider lifting the cap perhaps above $200,000. You were overheard by an Associated Press reporter saying that. Why do you have one public positio n and one private position?" (Sen. Hillary Clinton, MSNBC Democrat Presidential Candidate Debate, Philadelphia, PA, 10/30/07)

Hillary Refused To Answer Whether She Supports Giving Driver's Licenses To Illegal Immigrants.

"Near the end of a Democratic debate Tuesday where she deflected most darts aimed at her by her rivals, White House hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) just would not say whether she backed a proposal by New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants." (Lynn Sweet, "Hillary Waffles On Immigration," Chicago Sun-Times, 10/31/07)