Inside Clinton's Elton John Fundraiser: Singer Amazed By "Misogynistic Attitudes" Of Some In USA

NEW YORK — Experience is central to Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential bid, and Wednesday night she tapped one of pop music's most venerable rockers to help fill her campaign coffers with $2.5 million. Elton John, who has sold records and filled arenas for four decades, played a benefit concert for Clinton at Radio City Music Hall.

"I've always been a Hillary supporter," John, 61, said before launching into his 1970 breakthrough hits, "Your Song" and "Border Song." "There is no one more qualified to lead America."

The English singer, composer and pianist added: "I'm amazed by the misogynistic attitudes of some of the people in this country. And I say to hell with them .... I love you Hillary, I'll be there for you."

The cheapest tickets, $125 and $250, sold out quickly, campaign aides said. The other seats were filled by fans paying as much as $2,300, the limit for an individual's contribution to a federal candidate.

Preceding John on stage were Clinton, her husband, former President Clinton, and their daughter, Chelsea.

Hillary Clinton struck a defiant, underdog note in describing her battle against Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

"What I want you to know is I'm still standing, and I believe this country is worth fighting for," the New York senator said, playing off the title of one of John's hits. "So we're taking our campaign to Pennsylvania and all the states that haven't voted." Pennsylvania votes April 22.

The Clintons have hobnobbed with Hollywood and music industry figures for years. In 1998, John performed at a White House State Dinner the couple hosted for then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Last October, Clinton celebrated her 60th birthday with a fundraiser at New York's Beacon Theater that featured actor Billy Crystal and musicians Elvis Costello and the Wallflowers. It netted more than $1.5 million for her presidential effort.

Comments

[mponti]

Heather has two mommies... And England has two queens.

[Independent voter]

Elton is ga y. hillariuos is a dy ke. They seem amde for each other

[pinkyboo]

YOU SUCK!

[pinkyboo]

If Elton was straight would it make a difference? Grow up!

[wisechild]

moron!

[Tane]

Hillary could probably have won this race if she had chosen to do so with integrity. Instead she chose to polarize on issues and split the democratic party so that now the General Election is going to be a struggle when it should have been an easy win. It becomes more and more clear every day that she is ok with that. She'd rather have McCain win this round so that she can run again in 2012 and that is selfish and disregards millions of Americans who are ready to shed their apathy and believe in our government once again..

[MoeSart]

If you don't support Obama, you're a racist. You see it on these boards every day. It's the same attitude, so many of you are real hypocrites.

It will just get louder as the election gets closer and the reality that Obama has no chance of beating McCain becomes more and more obvious. You'll be lashing out at everyone everywhere.

[GravitonX]

No, if you don't support Obama and you're a Democrat, you're stupid and gullible and probably...uneducated.

[loocifer]

No you're probably not black and out of college!

[gabbyone]

I hope a year from now you come back and we will see who is uneducated, stupid and
gullible. Some of us have had experience with Obama and we know who he really is.
However, I learned a long time ago that people today don't want to listen to experience and so you have to wait until they get smacked up on the side of their head and figure it out themselves. You will figure it out and it isn't going to feel good. Been there and done it.

[sherbug]

Do you think Americans will vote against their own self interest and vote for McCain. As long as we stay in this war, it is a funnel for the wealth of this country. It all gets funnelled out to the various rich and leaves nothing for Joe Taxpayer. Look around you. Everyone is clinging to their jobs, homes and finances. Everyday, we see more and more evidence that this country is bankrupt. Why would anyone vote for somebody who wants to keep that funnel open. How does that help you and your family?

[hydethesalami]

"The English singer, composer and pianist added: "I'm amazed by the misogynistic attitudes of some of the people in this country. And I say to hell with them .... I love you Hillary, I'll be there for you."

Apparently Elton thinks "misogynistic" means "doesn't like flabby old irritating lesbians".

[inwonderland]

Elton John an expert on misogynist mentality?

This is a suspension of belief akin to the suspension needed to understand Hillary's Iraq war vote, lies on experiences, underdog pose.

SHE WAS FRONTRUNNER FOR A YEAR & COULD NOT SEE ANYONE TAKING THE THRONE FROM HER.

I love Elton, his charitable & creative work, his support for the transcent talent of RUFUS WAINRIGHT....but Elton's support of Hillary is polarizing & retro.

Hillary is the antihesis of modern feminism.

Women do not need to whine like victims. Hillary sees women's issues thru her own lens, how it generates votes.

This gig was for raising money. It did also REMIND US ALL THAT CLINTONS ARE FROM YESTERYEAR. That time HAS PASSED US BY.

Obama is "singing" a new tune for this country for ALL Amercans, includng women.

OBAMA DOESN'T USE HIS RACE AS A VICTIM. HE ONLY HAS ADDRESSED BEING BLACK DUE TO PRESSURES OUTSIDE HIMSELF, -THE FOX/CLINTON LAUNCH OF REV. WRIGHT MINISERIES OF SELECTIVE EDITING.

Rise above sterotypes! We are not FEMINISTS, MISONGYNISTS, LIBERAL, CONSERVATIVE,

WE'RE A NATION IN AGONY.

SENDING THE SAME OLD FOLKS TO DO THE SAME OLD THINGS,SINGING THE SAME OLD NATIONAL "ANTHEMS"...will get the same, sad results.

PHILADELPHIA FREEDOM, ELTON.

This post is from a baby boomer woman who doesn't/feel pressed to vote for a woman as a sign of solidarity. If she was right on the issues, I would.

Her living history makes me pull the lever for Obama w/ clear conscience & uplifted heart.

[GunneraGirl]

He can't be nearly as amazed and horrified as I was as an American in England, over the broad streak of hate-filled misogyny that runs the length and breadth of that country.

[shengirl]

Yeah, watch any British sit-com, or the old Benny Hill shows, if you want to see misogyny.

[treadway123]

man don't you get it yet! Hes a U.K. citizen, not a U.S. Citizen. It's against the law for a foreigner to finance, engage in, or even have fun raiseing in the United States for one of our Elected Goverment Officials! Last I heard the U.K. hasn't become part of the United States! I don't want Iran to ssend aentertainer here to choose what president to give us through lineing that Candidates pocket with money from a fund raiser , do you/

[RadioResearch]

Did it ever occur to Elton John that the increasing opposition to Hillary has nothing to do with gender? Many of us who used to support her have grown to distrust her on a number of issues. She repeatedly refuses to come clean on her record, whether it is Iraq, taxes, finances and foreign contributions, etc. She has dug this hole for herself and has used Bill as her strong man and arm-twister. She is a co-dependent person who can't bring herself to be an independent person in her own right.

Many of us who have switched to Obama have not done so because of gender or race but because we see her as being a part of the old-guard establishment with all of those "Skull and Bones" Yalie connections. In other words, she sold out!

Instead of attacking McCain like she should, she praises him and attacks Obama whom she has unwittingly turned into the underdog - a title she likes to give to herself. She has become so hypocritical that she has returned to her Republican roots when she admired Nixon. A feminist she is not!

[shengirl]

No, it never occurred to him; he's bought into the whiney Hillary mythology. "I'm entitled and if I don't get it, it's all YOUR fault."

[ReportThis]

Exactly what I've been missing in my life: a lecture about misogyny from a once-married gay white male on behalf of a clost dyke.

[GunneraGirl]

ROFLOL!! Well done! Query : Can we now expect a 'Candle in the Wind Redux' with lyrics just for Hillary?

[jbsouth]

Yes.

[IraqVet04]

Wait, wait, wait...A gay pop singer is calling me a mysoginist? HELLO!!!!! He's gay!!! He doesn't like women!!!!!

[RedBirdy]

No wanting to screw women doesn't equal dislike.

[SharonB]

You cannot be as uninformed and ignorant as your post makes you look.

[presto]

How old are you?

[Tane]

This is indeed a race about the future. We are knee-deep in serious global and domestic crises and we can't afford to be apathetic and sit these out or we could very well be destroying the futures of our children and grandchildren. Let the hopeful ones light the path and unite behind them, for if we are to make the much needed changes in this country in order to secure a bright future for our children then we must demand action from our government. Divided we fail!

[Tane]

What followed Super Tuesday had many voters increasingly distrusting Clinton as she refused to apologize for her vote for the war or explain why she went on to vote for the Iran initiative last year and then demonstrated multiple personalities - resulting to shrilling rebukes to Obama, then extravagantly praising him, then stooping to fear tactics, swift-boating, sentimental ploys juxtaposed with knee capping tactics, then landing on the Rocky persona in Pennsylvania. In comparison Obama managed to appear unflappable, consistent, calm in the face of crises, thoughtful, humble and yet commandingly Presidential at the same time, and more honest than most of the politicians that we have experienced in more than a generation. That the Clinton's who have arguably been skewered over a fire pit by the right would embrace their tactics, even embrace the people (from Limbaugh to Scaif) demonstrated their acceptance of cynicism and apathy. Instead of choosing to shun those dirty tactics and bury that kind of politics once and for all, they embraced them. They believe that vetting and swift boating is more powerful than inspiration and hope. They are wrong.

[Tane]

They failed to remember that the man from "a town called Hope" inspired the country with just that - hope. But rather than embrace their own idealism they decided to try to belittle Obama's own message of hope, deriding it as a fairy tale, impractical, just words, and just speeches (note that the Clinton have benefited to the tune of ~$50,000,000 on Bill's speeches and ~$40,000,000 on their books - more words). Next they underestimated the voters and discounted those living in smaller states since they didn't think they would benefit them in the General, discounted the caucuses, discounted the youth vote (they don't vote anyway), and after the incident in South Caroline that alienated a lot of black voters from the Clinton's they decided to discount the black vote, thinking they could just make up with them after she sealed the nomination. Their arrogance left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths. By the time they realized the problem with disregarding so many voters they were already in a panic because it was clear that Obama was going to sweep the primaries and caucuses following Super Tuesday.

cont.

[Tane]

The key is Hillary's own judgment. Does she not have her own thoughts that would lead to her listening to everyone's advice and then making her own judgment based on her past experience and successes? That she chose to do what her advisers told her to do rather than rely on her own instincts resulted in a campaign that lacked a consistent message, could not maintain solidarity and lacked hindsight as well as foresight. Their failure to take Obama seriously (or Edwards, Richardson, et al. for that matter) from the start was their first mistake. After several years of polls showing that a majority of Americans would have preferred to have Bill Clinton back in office than to continue with Bush, that provided them with the confidence that exuded a belief in inevitability. They figured Bill could toss the election in the bag for her due to his immense popularity and the many political favors owed to him. They had good reason to believe that they had a relatively easy road ahead of them, but they failed to recognize that the little known Barack Obama had a similar appeal to voters as did Bill Clinton in 1991-2.

cont...

[thrutheseasons]

I love you Tane.

[EosBlue]

I don't buy "Clinton" books, but I want to reserve a copy of the first printing of Hillary's new book coming out in January '08 entitled "Failed Candidacy" by Hillary Rodman of how she went from a sure thing on her path to the also-rans of history.

Future news... Hillary Clinton officially changes her name to Hillary Rodman and throws all of Bills clothes out on the street. Announces an exploratory committee to run against President Obama in '12. Fails again. After face lift and extensive liposuction surgery, debuts in '16 race for her third attempt and says she won't stop until she beats Harold Stassen's record of 9 Presidential races. White fem supporters from '08 race continue screaming "Hillary" from nursing homes across the country. Some question whether her first race as a Clinton should be included in the Rodman string of defeats.

[k6007]

liked the first sentence.

[SharonB]

I hear she is already taking resumes for ghost-writers.