Clinton's Growing Plant Story: Does it Matter?

The allegations that Hillary Clinton's campaign planted fake questions at public events has now grown into a major dispute in the Democratic race, drawing pointed attacks from the leading candidates.

On Monday afternoon, Barack Obama contrasted his freewheeling New Hampshire town halls to Clinton events that are "concocted by the candidate's staff." John Edwards said the practice reveals how Clinton is like George W. Bush, a message that hit home with Iowa voters in a blunt Des Moines Register headline "Edwards equates Clinton, Bush." Running a typical frontrunner strategy, the Clinton Campaign typically avoids singling out her rivals by name, but Edwards hit a nerve. The Clinton Campaign sent the attack right back at him, dispatching two spokespersons to accuse him of channeling Bush by dividing the country and attacking Democrats.

The traveling press corps initially missed the entire plant story, which was broken by college reporter Patrick Caldwell, but the press is digging into it now. The veteran AP scribe Mike Glover questioned Clinton about fake questions on Monday, the Washington Post's Shailagh Murray now says "the 'question' won't go away," and CNN's most viewed political video online is Clinton's "Planted question controversy." (For overall news videos, it still trails way behind "Sex offender decapitated.") And in the predictable rhythm of a media feeding frenzy, MSNBC has now dubbed this story "Plant-Gate."

But compared to the big issues, does any of this matter?

Yes. This kind of critique, like lots of media criticism, reflects real concerns about our public discourse. As a "process" complaint, sure, it ranks lower than public policy. But how candidates relate to voters -- just like how they deal with the press or disclose information -- affects the electorate's ability to appraise them. To her credit, Clinton has personally promised that fake questions will "certainly not be tolerated." A source close to the campaign says she was surprised and outraged by the practice. But primary voters may not feel completely assured until they see her take more tough questions on the road.

NEWS UPDATE: Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff, one of the Grinnell students who asked a staged question from the Clinton Campaign, spoke to CNN today about the incident. In the interview, she explains how a Clinton operative showed her a list of "typed out questions" with one planned specifically for a college student. Gallo-Chasanoff told me on Saturday that the media attention had "just been an awful experience" and she wanted "nothing else to do with it." She added that she "officially hate[s] press people now, all kinds."

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Ari Melber writes for The Nation, where this post first appeared. Check out The Nation's Campaign Blog for more news and commentary.

Comments

[altohone]

It matters... and it isn't a left/right issue, it's a right/wrong issue.

Clinton's handlers, and my guess would be Clinton herself, were well aware that her prepared remarks to planted questions makes her life easier.

Not only can she appear to be prepared, but the questions can eat up time that could have been used for a question she wasn't prepared for on which she may stumble.

Controlling the message and avoiding mistakes is crucial to her efforts. Hillary's condemnation of the practice rings hollow and I doubt this falls into the plausible deniability category as she was likely well aware it was happening... just like Bush.

[Wilson33]

Of course not, she's a Democrat! Nothing matters with the Democrats!

Yes it matters because she and other liberals are politicizing GW and making it an issue when it is truly not an issue other than trying to find alternative fuel sources and trying to keep the environment clean. But, the media, the Dems and the UN are pushing this hoax and now they are planting people and then stressing how it is important to young people cause young people get it.

It is a huge problem, but since she is a Democrat, all of you will once again, give her a free pass and say things like, "What's the big deal?" or "Does it really matter?"