Am I the last to hear about this Hillary Clinton question-planting fracas? A friend brought it to my attention in view of my recent blathering on the Maid-Rite kerfuffle, figuring I'd be fired up with opinions and stuff, which of course, I am. To be honest, I'm not even certain how much of an impact this incident and the ensuing press coverage is having on the big picture, because I've not seen how much and how broadly this is being discussed.
Because these conversations always make me sound like some rabid partisan, I will start with the standard hand waving: I'm no fan of Hillary Clinton. She's a centrist opportunist whose reflexive "tough" stances and administration-enabling make me weep. I'm so so so hoping she doesn't win. Obama, Obama, Obama.
But it's her substance that I take issue with. I want to know what she's going to do if elected. Is she going to invade Iran? Will she push for universal healthcare? The rest of this crap--oh, I mean press coverage--is playing gotcha to illustrate some vague concept of "character." I don't care if she tips well, I don't care if she's mean for giving away her cat, I don't care if she and Bill don't sleep together, I don't care if she pays too much for a haircut. Between these discussions and the press coverage of the meta story of the race itself, we end up learning nothing relevant about any of the candidates.
And as a principle, and in this context, I really don't see what's so objectionable. Sometimes campaign appearances are structured, with set questions, sometimes they're audience driven, almost always they're controlled at some level. The Clinton campaign declared beforehand that the questions were spontaneous, and at least one wasn't. Maybe Clinton knew about it, maybe her staff were overzealous. Of course it was deceptive, and silly to do. But the gain from such optical manipulations just don't seem extraordinary. if the goal is puff questions that make a candidate seem warm and approachable and smooth, it tells nothing of their policies and proposals. And having someone ask "hey, what's your position on global warming? It matters to me" merely lets the candidate tee off on what their policies would be. If a Republican did the same, I'd say, so?
In contrast, someone actually in elected office evading accountability or attempting some Soviet-style propaganda? Problematic.
UPDATE: Salon.com, on the fake campaign trail.
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