It seems there's more to the Clinton question planting

CNN reporters Chris Welch and David Schechter have scored an interview with Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff. You might not recognize her name at first. But she's the 19-year-old Grinnell College sophomore who was an audience plant at the Hillary Clinton public forum on energy in Newton, Iowa last week.

Gallo-Chasanoff's story about being driven to the event by Clinton interns and introduced to a Clinton staffer who asked her to pose a specific rigged question that allowed the candidate to expound on her energy plan appeared in the school newspaper and set off a weekend furor over improper campaign tactics and ethics. The Clinton campaign said it was an isolated incident, denied it was standard procedure and promised it wouldn't happen again.

Other campaigns criticized the practice and said they didn't rig public sessions like late-night infomercials.

But the Grinnell student's new detailed account raises additional questions, indicating the staffer had a set procedure he followed and the student said she knew of at least one other audience member there who was given a question to ask of the four Clinton answered that day.

Rigging candidate forums that are highly valued in Iowa and New Hampshire as genuine ....

opportunities to confront and hear candidates up close is pretty offensive in that environment and could damage Clinton in the tightening Iowa race, especially since it plays to her image as calculating and perhaps not always totally honest.

According to the new CNN interview, the staffer approached Gallo-Chasanoff and asked if she'd like to ask Hillary Clinton a question. The student pondered it a moment and said, yes, she'd like to ask how Clinton's energy plan differed from other candidates. "I don't think that's a good idea," the staffer replied, "because I don't know how familiar she is with their plans."

He then flipped open a binder to a page with about eight questions on it, Gallo-Chasanoff says. At the top was one marked: (College Student). He ripped that one off and gave it to her: "As a young person, I'm worried about the long-term effects of global warming. How does your plan combat climate change?"

Gallo-Chasanoff said the staffer signaled Clinton to call on her and another man in the crowd, among others.

Sure enough, when Gallo-Chasanoff raised her hand, the candidate called on her and she asked the question exactly as printed. See the video here, including Clinton's perfectly formatted response, noting how it's always young people who ask that question. What an amazing coincidence, eh?

Asked about the practice of planting questions later, Clinton said it was news to her and inappropriate. A campaign spokesman later said the senator "had no idea who she was calling on." Of course, no one ever suggested Clinton knew the girl, just that she should call on her.

Gallo-Chasanoff said when the campaign heard about the campus newspaper story being prepared a campaign worker asked her not to talk to any more media members. "If what I do is come and just be totally truthful," the student told CNN, "then that's all anyone can ask of me, and that's all I can ask of myself. So I'll feel good with what I've done. I'll feel like I've done the right thing."

Asked what effect the experience has had on her opinion of Clinton, Gallo-Chasanoff, who calls herself undecided, said, ""I think she has a lot to offer, but I -- this experience makes me look at her campaign a little bit differently." She also said she was disappointed to think other campaigns might do the same. She's still interested in studying political science, but more as an issue advocate not a politician.

To watch the complete interview, click here.

--Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[Danny Campbell]

I think members of the media that spend so much time reporting on this issue (Question-Gate) should be ashamed of themselves. I've worked on many political campaigns over the years and it is entirely common for local campaign staffers to try to get questions to candidates that broadly touch on the platform of a candidate. Its far different than the scripted FEMA (media excluded) press conference held last month. If 30 questions are posed at a Townhall meeting, and 5-10 are scripted (to illustrate the candidate's platform and ensure the issue is addressed) that's not only normal, but a smart strategy. Otherwise, attendees may not get a broad sense of the candidates' position -- and instead listen to a series of special interest stories (which are also important).

I have no doubt the media knows this -- and no doubt the media knows it goes on in EVERY OTHER CAMPAIGN. But, I guess we are talking about the Clintons -- so that bar of criticism must be held higher than we do for anyone else, right? The media appears so bored they are grasping at straws (why does Hillary laugh, why does she clap her hands, she's playing the gender card). What's next? Why does the woman breathe?

[vwcat]

I have watched Road to the White House on cspan. They always show a q and a with the voters. I don't watch the ones with Clinton as I don't like her. but, from the Obama and the Edwards q&a I've seen, they are definitely not planted ones.
The people ask a variety of questions and give personal stories, ect. the candidates sometimes say they don't know on a few.
It is very free flowing.
But, we all know the clinton camp is a tightly controlled machine. I do not believe Hillary did not know. She knows everything that goes on. And I don't see a staffer taking it upon themself to just do this independently. Not in clinton's campaign. She is a very controlling person who needs everything to be scripted and set out ahead of time.
Like in the iowa maid rite. She was suppose to go in and talk with the customers about their issues to show she empathizes with the people. That she cares.
However, it turns out the customers were all Clinton campaign workers and the whole thing was staged.
this happened during her Middle class bus tour about a month ago.
It is said that Hillary is working right out of the Bush 2000 playbook and it looks like it's true.

[vwcat]

i forgot. the new republic has an interesting story about how the Clinton campaign is also using the Bush playbook with the press. They admired his campaigns tactics with the press and used them.
Worth checking out. Politico had a blurb about it yesterday and a link to it.

[EdF]

Do these tactics really surprise anyone? Remember Hillary stealing furniture from the White House when she left(which she later was forced to return), the White Water deal, Bill selling pardons, her sham of a marriage kept together for political reasons(does anyone really believe she loves Bill), her false claims of being a Christian. She is a monster.