Clinton Fields Planted Question in Iowa

Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign was forced to admit yesterday that a question about global warming asked during an event in Newton, Iowa, was planted by a Clinton campaign staffer. The questioner, local college student Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff said she was approached by a Clinton campaign staffer before the event and provided with the question to ask the candidate. Sen. Clinton called on Gallo-Chasanoff and the following exchange ensued.

Question: "As a young person, I'm worried about the long-term effects of global warming How does your plan combat climate change?

Clinton: "Well, you should be worried. You know, I find as I travel around Iowa that it's usually young people that ask me about global warming."

Clinton then went on to discuss details of her plan. Gallo-Chasanoff says it was a "senior staffer" that approached her with the planted question. The campaign has not identified the staffer, but did release a statement admitting the error and seeking to protect the candidate. "Senator Clinton did not know which questioners she was calling on during the event. This is not standard policy and will not be repeated again."

The incident marked the second time this week that Clinton's campaign staff has gotten her in trouble in Iowa. Earlier in the week, National Public Radio reported that Clinton did not leave a tip after a lunchtime stop at the Maid-Rite restaurant in Toledo, Iowa. The campaign responded that the campaign did in fact leave a tip for the help, $100 on a bill of $157. However, some questions about the incident remain. The waitress insists she was not tipped and the campaign staff so far has only produced a credit card receipt for the $157 bill. The campaign did confirm to NPR that a staffer visited the restaurant the following day with $20 for the waitress and an apology.

Coming as they do on the heels of Clinton's shaky performance in the last Democratic debate, the two incidents cast doubt on the campaign's ability to handle both criticism and the small details that a well-oiled presidential campaign must account for. After her Democratic rivals pounced on her seeming inability to take a position on the issue of driver's licenses for illegal immigrants, the Clinton campaign put out a video, titled the "Politics of Pile-On," that has since been widely derided as prickly and whining. Subsequently, the campaign has been forced to admit that her performance at the debate was less than her best.

But the campaign's response to this latest flub, which was originally not reported by the mainstream press but posted on the Grinnell College website, may indicate that it is learning how to deal with missteps and criticism in a more constructive manner. Instead of denying the allegation about the planted question, the campaign quickly admitted its error and pledged not to engage in such tactics in the future. Consequently, this will be a one or two day story in the life of the campaign. Had the campaign used similar tactics in dealing with the driver's license and tip controversies, those stories would have had short life spans as well.

Clinton should thank her Democratic rivals for pushing her so hard in the last debate. There is a lot of time before the 2008 election and many more mistakes to make. While this week has been another bad one for the Clinton campaign, it may turn out to be the best thing that could have happened to her hopes of winning next November.