The topic of Hillary's aides planting questions among the audience members at campaign stops made it through several news cycles. Clinton denied she knew. Fox News was of course a leader in the enquiry—

"Well it was news to me" Clinton said. "And neither I nor my campaign approve of that. And it will certainly not be tolerated."

The reporter went on to ask if she knew of other incidents beyond those reported.

Clinton responded saying, "You know everything I know."

Her campaign stops must have seemed almost magical to Senator Clinton. Personally I always consider myself blessed—anointed even—when I'm asked the very questions I've prepared myself for the day before.

Matt Crowley, senior editor of The New Republic, has written an interesting piece on the Clinton press machine—

It's enough to make you suspect that breeding fear and paranoia within the press corps is itself part of the Clinton campaign's strategy. And, if that sounds familiar, it may be because the Clinton machine, say reporters and pro-Hillary Democrats, is emulating nothing less than the model of the Bush White House, which has treated the press with thinly veiled contempt and minimal cooperation. "The Bush administration changed the rules," as one scribe puts it--and the Clintonites like the way they look.

Crowley writes that after Barack Obama said he would be willing to sit down with Iran's President Ahmadinejad, Howard Wolfson, Hillary's communications director, went on MSNBC's "Hardball" and "pointedly noted that this would place Obama in the company of a 'Holocaust denier.'"

Crowley's characterization of Wolfson cannot fail to evoke memories of Karl "Turd Blossom" Rove—

Those flashes of sadism don't reflect the unexpectedly likeable character within, however. "Wooffie," as Hillary has been known to call him, is colorfully eccentric--afraid of flying, highly allergic, prone to weird accidents, and a proud indie-rock connoisseur. And, unlike many hard-assed Republican operatives, Wolfson socializes with some top D.C. political reporters.

Of course I may be prejudiced at this point toward anyone with a nickname that sounds like "Wolfie."

A campaign has every right—and it is in the public interest as well—to combat false charges. And we certainly can't expect a campaign not to put the most positive spin on any of the candidate's actions. But we have had quite enough of extreme secrecy, press control and media manipulation from the Bush administration. We do not need a repeat from a Clinton administration.

Related posts
Another reason I won't be supporting Hillary for President in 2008 (12/13/04)
Newt nominates Hillary (4/15/05)
Observation of the Day (11/5/05)
Political Profile of the Day (8/30/06)
Political Jargon of the Day (4/19/07)
"I'm Hillary, fly me" (6/27/07)
Hillary's peek-a-boob neckline (7/27/07)
News of note — Nov 9 07

Tags: news and politics media control Hillary Clinton