Hillary Clinton's "don't ask" policy

As she races through Iowa in the days before next week's caucuses, Hillary Clinton is taking few chances. She tells crowds that it’s their turn to “pick a president,’’ but over the last two days she has not invited them to ask her any questions.

Before the brief Christmas break, the New York senator had been setting aside time after campaign speeches to hear from the audience. Now when she’s done speaking, her theme songs blare from loudspeakers, preventing any kind of public Q&A.

She was no more inviting when a television reporter approached her after a rally on Thursday and asked if she was “moved’’ by Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. Clinton turned away without answering.

Her daughter, Chelsea, had the same reaction when a reporter approached her with a question.

Hillary Clinton’s no-question policy didn’t sit well with some of the Iowans who came to see her speak.

“I was a little bit underwhelmed,’’ said Doug Rohde, 46, as he left a rally at a fire station in Denison. “The message was very generic -- and no questions.’’

Clinton campaign officials said that she may take questions in the coming days. But her focus is on seeing as many voters as possible before the caucuses next Thursday -- and spotlighting the messages she wants to deliver.

Spokespeople for her two main rivals in the Hawkeye State -– John Edwards and Barack Obama -– said the candidates would continue fielding questions as they troll for support.

(UPDATE: For an amusing update, click here.)

-- Peter Nicholas

Comments

[JTC]

I hope the folks wake up and realize Hillary is only about protecting her image and looking out for number one, herself. Hillary is not the type of person we want in control of Government - she would have us socialistic in short order - nationalized healthcare would only be the beginning - her philosophy is she knows best how to organize and run my life, constitution be hanged.

[Foo Barr]

The old battle-axe is finding a presidential nomination in the face of creeping fascism a bit more challenging than a Senate election where she opposed the face of creeping fascism (New Yorkers know what Giuliani is all about). With real alternatives, it seems that people are waking up to the fact that Clinton takes their votes for granted, wants to continue the disastrous War on Personal Freedoms, and represents more of the same bungling authoritarianism that has crippled America under Bush and his cronies.

Nobody wants a proto-fascist Furst Frau in the Reichstag after all.

[tom yeager]

she also has hunter killer robots pecially trained to crush those who might try to ask whether she believes juanita brodderick was lying when she tearfully went on national tv and said bill clinton has raped her when he was attorney general of arkansas,,,,,,THAT is at the top of the list of unacceptable questions

[Pog Mahone]

I refuse to vote for any candidate who will not release her personal papers, lies about the fact that she has not yet done so, refuses for years to answer questions on television, refuses to answer questions now, complains about being targeted unfairly when she is simply asked tough and necessary questions, wastes the American taxpayer's time and money by approving of and signing legislation condemning a private citizen for comments that he never made, and changes her position through the deft use of semantics on a weekly basis. Who on earth WOULD vote for someone like that?

[DJH]

Yet another reason why she wont be President.
Her answers are always canned, terrible and leave most scratching their heads, so to protect herself and keep her in her quest for power she's not going to answer anything at all, NICE!
The fact is she has almost no experience at all, she has no legitimate answers to fund her socialist projects, and the public pretty much knows what they get with her; AN UNKNOWN CANDIDATE!

Just step down already, lady. You won't be president.

[Tim T]

Good on the LA Times for reporting this. Cheers and let's hope that 2008 represents a return to first-rate journalism on issues that matter. America needs few things less than a President who is foolish enough to believe that she knows all the answers (and needn't take any questions to prove it).

[Veritas]

She has to answer questions eventually!

[veritas]

Is this what you democrats want from a President? Do you really want someone who refuses to answer questions? She has to answer the questions eventually.

[joe]

What just because she's running for president doesn't mean she needs to be challenged about anything. You have to feel a sense of entitlement to come up with such entitlement programs she has proposed. So of course she feels entitled to the white house. She's a woman Damn it, that makes her qualified!!!!!

[NOCOMMENT]

I believe Hillary is out to PUTINIZE the United States News Media. Not that it needs her help to do that, but it is one step closer to that REALITY with Hillary in charge for sure. That is why she never takes questions and the news media never insists on answers. She has a lot to hide really if you were to get down to asking real questions and getting straight answers. That is why she plants people to ask questions of her in her IOWA audiences. She would be an epic nightmare if left in charge. Bill Clilnton recently said that his wife was a walking GENIUS. I differ in that I would say she might be instead, an IDIOT SEVANT. Who has no real answers, JUST COPYING other's ideas and masking them as her own.

[Dennis]

It appears Mrs. Clinton may be suffering from a recently discovered condition called Sealed Lip Undeterminable Tracheosis, which affects the voluntary divulgence of information from the logical side of the brain through the trachea. More than likely, she was born with this latent condition but it seems to appear under certain types of stress, particularly involving political and law discourse. It has been known to spread to female siblings at a certain point in their development. One can only hope that this newly discovered disease won't pass to her husband, but only time will tell.

[Mathman]

typical Clintonish

[John Duresky]

Well, I think it's a brilliant policy. It eliminates the chance of her getting caught doing any more flip-flops or lies. Could be a money saver too, they can just do a video of her stump speech and have Iowans sit in front of a TV and watch it as a campaign worker puts in the DVD.

[Mike]

Maybe she's afraid of getting questions about her "experience." Of course, she didn't even have a Secret security clearance so she had nothing to do with this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4540958/

NBC News has obtained, exclusively, extraordinary secret video, shot by the U.S. government. It illustrates an enormous opportunity the Clinton administration had to kill or capture bin Laden. Critics call it a missed opportunity.

[allwordsnocontent]

What was the point of this article? Is there a Bash Hillary quota that the Times must meet as part of it's State Run Media policy for the W regime?

Ron Paul in 08!!!!

[joe@msn.com]

WHO IN THE HELL WANTS A CHIPMUNK IN THE WHITEHOUSE????

[Rick Aztlan]

Why is anyone surprised? The Clintons have always been arrogant and aloof.
The election of Hillary is an annointing, expected by the 60's radicals, of whom she and Bubba were leaders. She dosen't have to answer questions; just give her the crown and be done with it! After all she is the smartest woman on earth and of her generation, according to Bill and the media.

[Steve Philipp]

The reason she's not answering any questions is fear of melt down like her democratic colleague Howard Dean. Mark my words its only time before she implodes from the stress. If you didn't see that during the famous boys against girl debate then you’re blind.

[liberty]

When Hillary wants to hear your thoughts, she'll be happy to give them to you.

[Dee Elle]

When Hillary was running for the senate in New York, she used the same tactics.

No one could get near her and nobody was allowed to question her about anything.

Please let us not allow her to use the same mode of campaigning and get away with it.

Let her NOT be successful.

In other words - vote Barack!!!

[Mike M.]

No wonder the libs love Huckabee. They have two losers as democrat presidential front runners. One is a Marxist determined to take away our birthright of freedom, the other wants to attack Pakistan and neither of them has actually accomplished anything or shown any potential to be the leader of the FREE world. Huckabee is the only GOP candidate that either lib candidate has a prayer of defeating! Vote for Duncan Hunter - an ACTUAL conservative, (as opposed to someone like McCain or other Bush-like GOP candidates), who is a DECORATED VETERAN, (but won't flaunt it on his sleeve like John F'n Kerry did in 2004), and has a solid track record of getting things done right ... the first time. gohunter08 dot com

[James]

So she can drop her own people into other candidates q&a forums to ask "posed" questions, but she won't even answer questions anymore. Is she afraid of revenge tactics from the other candidates, or does she just not have any answers. perhaps both???

[jerseydale]

Clinton Motto - Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies!

[tom layman]

obviously this women has no substance.
she is afraid of any verbal blunders so close to the primary.
which shows that she lacks the confidence in her inner self
to react appropriately to questions, because her belief system
isn't based on good character and an ingrained belief of what is right or
wrong but on what is the most popular and least controversial position.

[louise]

It's easier for Hillary NOT to answer questions because, if she did answer them, then she'd have to explain why she changed her mind so often. She's supposedly brilliant, but not brilliant enough to remember what she says from day to day !