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

CHARLES BABINGTON | April 9, 2008 11:12 PM EST | AP

Compare other versions »

Show your support.
Buzz this article up.
Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is embraced by British singer Elton John on stage at Radio City Music Hall in New York during a campaign fundraising event, Wednesday, April 9, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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
1359
Pending Comments
0

Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to

Hint sample
View Comments:
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next › Last » (13 pages total)

I agree that Elton was way off base with his comment. It's a giant leap of logic to assume that anyone who doesn't support Sen Clinton is a misogynist. Just as it is a giant leap of logic to assume that anyone who doesn't support Sen Obama is a racist. And i'm not too thrilled with a Brit coming here to tell us how we should think and who we should vote for in our own election.

BUT the fact that he is gay has nothing to do with ANYTHING. If anything is retro garbage, that is!!

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:23 PM on 04/10/2008

I suppose we could ask the ex-Mrs Elton. John exactly how misogynistic HE is. But, of course, the Hillary supporters would claim that THAT is none of OUR business. Nevermind that HE started the name-calling....REALITY has no place in her Bushrovian campaign.

Hillary even has Paul Krugman going around sliming Obama supporters as "haters" and "cultists" Slimy little formerly (seemingly) admirable worm. What a terrible influence she has been in courting loyalists who are willing to assume self-inflicted damage to their reputations . I have stopped reading Krugman, and her support from the corrupt Democratic machine pols in PA has caused me to do a little research on this group of scum bags, and I won't be voting for anybody from THAT group again for anything ever. (We are new to PA, or I would have already realized this, and--I suppose--I would have caught on eventually anyhow. But I am wiser quicker, thanks to the Hillary endorsements of the pols from this clique).

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:51 AM on 04/11/2008

The fact of the matter is that the rest of the world DOES care who gets elected President of the US. The past 7 yrs have done considerable damage to other countries as well as our own. It is also a known fact that the world body generally knows more about American politics than the average American (shown by some of these posts).

That having been said, Barack Obama has won the Democrats Abroad vote as well as is most favorably received around the world. His candidacy has raised opinion polls of our country and receives a great amount of positive attention.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:01 PM on 04/10/2008

Whatever happened to those of you who post these hateful, negative, and personally destructive blogs? Every harsh word is a reflection on you, not Hillary. It's overkill; it's inaccurate; and it's completely self-revealing. Elton John and Hillary Clinton are not the problem. The problem is that Obama supporters, like those who blog here, justify their support only if they take down the opposition. If you have to take down the opposition, your candidate is not worth voting for.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:00 PM on 04/10/2008

Two stale relics. Sorry Hillary, but Americans don't take cues from lame washed up British pop stars. Especially ones as pompous and self-flattering as Madame Elton John.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:14 PM on 04/10/2008

BIG O's new politics simply shine through on HuffPost. Of course, these comments are all over the blogosphere. They wonder WHY HRC's supporters (like Elton John) say what they do. All they have to do is look in the mirror...

"Who, me? Sexist? Hateful? Nasty? Dismissive?"

Pathetic excuse for the "transformational politics" pushed by BIG O's campaign and followers.

Oh, and yeah. You can now add homophobic and lgbt bashers to the list of their anti-Democratic, hate-filled, negative, nasty tactics.

WAY TO GO BIG O!!!

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:04 PM on 04/11/2008


Elton calls you out and you crybabies whine and whine and whine....

Pathetic.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:52 PM on 04/10/2008

How does a Fundraiser like this Not violate campaign financing laws?
Seems like a lot of the people attending had already maxed out on the $2300/person
limit on donations to Hillary for Primary--assuming, they didn't buy tickets using the
names of children or pets--so how can they keep giving over the $2300 limit?
Even if the money went to purchase tickets from Elton John, how can he give $2.5 million to a single candidate.
Just trying to figure out how this is done legally and in such plain sight.....

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:44 PM on 04/10/2008

Take a look at the lobbyists and lobbyist bunders fundraising for BIG O, then come back and talk about violating campaign finance laws.

Oh, and while we're on the subject of campaign finance: if O's followers are so clearly concerned about the taint of big money in elections, why don't they ask BIG O why he continues to block the nomination of additional commissioners to the FEDERAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION (that oversees campaign finance laws)? Hmmm?

Yeah. It's what I thought: they're the biggest hypocrites we've seen in recent years. "Do as I say; not as I do."

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:08 PM on 04/11/2008

Huffington don' cut this out please! Elton John is not a United States Citizen! He is a citizen of the U.K! I do believe it is against the law for any foreigner to come into the United States and give money or support in any way shape or form any Candidate up for election in our Goverment an or the Candidate for ThePresident of the United States! That's like saying Iran has a right to send a Entertainer to the United States to Do a Fund raiser for the candidate of thier choice! No foreign power is to have a legal right to influence or finance our elections!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO YOU TELL ME HOW IT IS THE CLINTONS IS GETTING AWAY WITH A FOREIGNER FINANCEING HER CAMPAGNE! OR IS IT GOOD FOR US TO OPEN THIS DOOR FOR FUTURE FOREIGNERS TO CHOOSE OUR PRESIDENT FOR US! YOU SAY, "WHATS THE BIG DEAL, IT'S ONLY ELTON"! THE BIG DEAL IS YOU WILL HAVE OTHER COUNTRIES SCREAMING FOR THE SAME RIGHTS TO DECIDE OUR ELECTIONS FOR US! wHATS FAIR FOR THE GOOSE IS FAIR FOR THE GANDER! A LAW NOT TO BE BROKEN, EVEN FOR THE HIGH AND MIGHTY CLINTONS1

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:56 PM on 04/10/2008

You been reading, what, "The Washington Times" - right-wing PR merchant??

Pathetic; can't even do the basic research required to get the facts. In case you missed the memo, there is NOTHING illegal about Elton John's performance to raise money for HRC -- N.O.T.H.I.N.G.

But then, to learn this, you might actually have to research it, which would require work instead of sitting in front of a tube and letting the right-wing media tell you the truth.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:17 PM on 04/11/2008

Is it because Elton is a foreigner that US financing law does not apply to him? SO what keeps foreign governments from interfering with US elections--can any non-US citizen give millions of dollars to US presidential candidates?

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:49 PM on 04/10/2008

Yoi know, before Yahoo shut down it's message boards they had a lot of the same kind of comments posted there every time a homosexual was mentioned in a story. It got to the point where the trolls were the only ones posting on those message boards. Then one day Yahoo just shut them down completely.
I wish Yahoo had left them open. Some of the remarks here about gays are beyond the pale for their stupidity, ignorance and out-right cruelty.
The fact that the man is gay has nothing to do with the story.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 07:50 PM on 04/10/2008

Who is this British Snob telling America who to vote for? Allow this British aristocrat to bow down before his queen and pay homage. He should mind his own business and go out with little boys and conduct his abysmal acts. Harsh, you bet since he has no right whatsoever in dictating to Americans.
I wonder if Elton thinks the Queen, lords, dukes, earls etc. use T.P. Horrendous jerk.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 07:29 PM on 04/10/2008

Oh, but it's okay for foreign media like Christopher Hitchens and it's okay for foreign PR/marketing firms to support BIG O as "transformational" and a healer for the world.

Like I said earlier: the biggest bunch of hypocrites I've seen for a long time.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:11 PM on 04/11/2008

Here, for an example is an obvious Yahoo troll.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 07:52 PM on 04/10/2008

This is going to help Hillary where and how?
With the delegates from England?

GOD! It is bad enough when she just lies... I get physically sick when she whines while lying.

Also, what is Elton John wearing in that picture? Is that Hillary's "dragon lady" coat from when she lied ...errrr... testified... before congress? They look enough alike to be one of those "separated at bith" things...

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:44 PM on 04/10/2008

Won't it be great when people can really analyze a candidate without being called a misogynist or a racist. I fit right into Clinton's demographic, but support Obama. I don't dislike her because she's a woman, nor do I like him because he is African American. I find him the superior candidate because of a quality that he has that I do not; the ability not to be strident, to listen and to show respect even to people who are philosophically your antithesis. He has inspired me to try to do likewise.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:37 PM on 04/10/2008

Except, of course, for all the hate-filled, sexist, ageist, homophobic, racist rants by BIG O's followers. "...the ability not to be strident..."

What the h*** do you think STRIDENT is? It's a sexist term. So it's really disingenuous and pathetic for BIG O's followers to say they aren't sexist when they can't even find a non-sexist word to use to describe HRC.

Way to go!!

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:15 PM on 04/11/2008

Elton John favors Hillary over Obama because he is a racist!

Oh, what...he's not? You mean some people might like Hillary over Obama for some other reason? Really? Hmmm...maybe this might also be trust for people who like Obama over Hillary? Something for Elton to ponder.

So, no I don't think Elton John is a racist, I just think he's stupid.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:33 PM on 04/10/2008

I think if after Rev. Wright the world was asked to stop the condemning and have a discussion about race, the world should be just as willing to accept the idea of starting a discussion about sexism. But that would involve keeping the playing field equal for Sen Obama and Sen Clinton and once again.....look what's happened.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:49 PM on 04/10/2008

Elton John making excuses for Hillary's blunders and now singing the same loser song. No one wants a cry-baby loser for a President. What a sucker...

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:48 PM on 04/10/2008

So, while voters in PA suffer with foreclosures, loss of jobs, declining wages, no health care multimillionaire Hillary takes off for NYC and a glittery fund raiser by a crazyman rocker with the anti-America crowd. There you go, PA. Hillary really cares. She's fighting for you.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:39 PM on 04/10/2008

Didn't see Obama to interested in the problems of the country as he moved from mansion to
mansion at California parties last weekend filling his campaign pockets.......At least the Clinton's use their money for the good to the 10 million in donations and all the time Bill has put into the Global Inititive which is fighting AIDS, hunger, childhood obesity and helping Katrina victims.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:08 PM on 04/10/2008

bULL, THEY GIVE TO THEIR OWN CHARITY, TO SKIM OFF WHAT THEY WANT. IT' S A TAX LOOP HOLE THEY GET A WAY WITH!

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:00 PM on 04/10/2008

oh brother...keep in mind that the clinton foundation is also very self serving as well as charitable.

Their donations went into their foundation where I'm sure they got some tax breaks.

Please. Fundraising is part of the gig for primary season.

The point with the Clintons is they are not to be canonized any more than Obama is to be criticized about fundraising.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 07:15 PM on 04/10/2008

The 10 Million went to the Clinton Foundation where God knows what loopholes exist to allow them use of the money and also claim it as a tax deduction. They have only given $3M away to charities. No doubt, the lucky charities are somehow connected to somebody the Clintons are connected with and the money continues to circulate amongst the rich. Somebody with $109M doesn't much care about those who are paying $4.00/gallon for gas or for those people being foreclosed on. Hillary's original message was health care. She wants health care more than anything. You can bet your bottom dollar that her mandated healthcare plan is the result of lobbying of healthcare and pharmaceutical PACs. But believe, somebody will be getting rich off the mandated healthcare plan proposed by Clinton.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:35 PM on 04/10/2008

Am I the only one who DOESN'T CARE what an old, gay British rock star thinks??? Another FOREIGN NATIONAL trying to influence our elections!

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:29 PM on 04/10/2008

Look John, our country sucks right now. There's still a bunch of racism, sexism, and stupidity. The Bushies and Republicans want blind patriotism because they're the ones in power at the moment. The truth is I've never felt worse about my country in my life. Fuck my country until this Republican stranglehold is gone. Republicans hold our country back. These have been the worst eight years for American ever.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:00 PM on 04/10/2008

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

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 04:44 PM on 04/10/2008

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

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 04:34 PM on 04/10/2008

moron!

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 07:16 PM on 04/10/2008

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

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:54 PM on 04/10/2008

YOU SUCK!

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:53 PM on 04/10/2008

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..

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 04:28 PM on 04/10/2008

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.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 04:21 PM on 04/10/2008

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?

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:44 PM on 04/10/2008

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