Huff Po: Clinton Planted Question In 1999:

[mod mom]

SAID IT WILL NOT BE REPEATED AGAIN. :eyes:

Clinton's Planted Question...In 1999

November 12, 2007 06:01 PM


Three days after Hillary Clinton's campaign was forced to admit it had planted a question at an Iowa campaign event, an eagle-eyed tipster noted that this wasn't the first time the former First Lady's camp arranged for a friendly voice to lob a softball question.

In announcing her Senate run in 1999, MSNBC reported that "responding to a planted question at a Teachers Union event made it clear she is in the race for the US Senate."

Clinton's aides reacted to the news of the most recent rigged question by saying "this is not standard policy and will not be repeated again."

Below is the transcript from the 1999 broadcast:

ANNOUNCER: From NBC News, this is THE NEWS WITH BRIAN WILLIAMS.
WILLIAMS: Good evening.
We have a lot to tell you about tonight, beginning with what had become a whisper campaign of late, and it went like this: After what turned into a somewhat disastrous trip to the Middle East and with polls showing she should not run, Hillary Rodham Clinton just might pull out of the race for Senate from New York. Well, today, the first lady, responding to a planted question at a Teachers Union event made it clear she is in the race for the US Senate.
The aggressive Yale-educated lawyer is most certainly in for the fight of her life. But today was about looking ahead to all that she says she plans to do for New York and its residents. Part of today's announcement, however, was somewhat overlooked and that is, the first lady will soon begin living apart from the president. The White House will be without a first lady, while the president's wife moves to New York and runs for office. She does so without the blessing of some New York Democrats. We'll hear from one in just a moment.

-snip
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/11/12/clintons-planted-questio_n_72294.html

[mod mom]

1. " today's events were as carefully choreographed as the New York City Ballet"

says Andrea Mitchell.

'99: maybe * learned from HRC.

[gratuitous]

2. Is this really what America wants?

My goodness, scripted questions and choreographed appearances! After the rough-and-tumble of the Bush years, where you never knew what was going to happen at an appearance or a press conference, do we really want to have planted audience questions? Why can't the Democratic candidates face the public and the press, you know, like George W. Bush. Whether it's a pre-screened audience, a military audience, or a press conference limited to three pre-screened questions, President Bush has been in the thick of every national debate and conversation, giving as good as he gets for seven years.

Keep that in mind, people: President Bush is thick!

[Bitwit1234]

3. Lord love a duck how many times in just this ONE article

about this to be posted. I know I have seen it three times. Oh well guess you can't find any other crap to bash Hillary with so you post it over and over.

[Richard Steele]

5. Whining that facts exist is not rebuttal. nm

[Basileus Basileon]

4. Look, I don't care for Clinton either. And I think that

since we gave Bush hell for Gannon, we should treat her the same way--the only way we can get politicians to not treat us like idiots is to let them know we don't appreciate being treated like idiots.

At the same time, let's not moralize too much, because I'm pretty damn sure that every single one of the top-tiers in both parties plants questions. Dirty tricks in politics are like steroids in sports: everyone knows they shouldn't, everyone huffs when someone's caught red-handed, but anyone who doesn't is at such a profound disadvantage they're unlikely to ever hit the major leagues.

Corruption in politics sucks. And it's universal. Any attempt to deal with it should start with both of those assumptions. Pretending it's endemic to Bush, Clinton, or any other politician you hate is just setting us up for the next disappointment.

[AzDar]

6. Kick!

:kick: