Last Question for Clinton: "I can see why they gave you this question"

[berni_mccoy]

Did I hear that right? That young person just revealed that "they" gave him this question to ask Hillary. And that question was who was her favorite president... To which she had a canned answer. That's just wrong and horrible that CNN didn't take real questions for Hillary.

[TCJ70]

1. You heard it right...

...and it raises some questions about this thing...

[tomm2thumbs]

55. clip

[DVRacer]

2. I caught that too

Oh wow what an accidental revelation

[MissDeeds]

9. +1

I caught that too. Wonder if the kid really goofed up or if he let that out of the bag on purpose...

[hrmjustin]

3. Its a conspiracy I tell you!

[ram2008]

15. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but what is the alternative explanation? n/t

[hrmjustin]

18. Her husband was a former president as was her boss.

She is a unique candidate and that made it interesting.

[ram2008]

20. Why did he say "I can see why they gave you this question"

Who is they?

[hrmjustin]

28. You do understand they picked the questions and those who asked them?

[Fawke Em]

93. Do you understand that the questions were supposed to be from the audience?

How could "they" give her the question? Did the kid want to ask that of any candidate? Did "they" decide only she got to answer it? I thought the questions were supposed to be asked of specific candidates.

[ieoeja]

114. He submitted the question "for any candidate". One candidate would get the question. CNN decided. nt

[JDPriestly]

62. But why would he say, "I can see why THEY GAVE YOU this question."

Who is the "they" that gave Hillary the question. How was the question selected? Was it really from the young man from Logan, Iowa (still a small town I bet after all these years, a town in which everybody knows everybody)?

Who gave the question?

[tblue37]

79. Probably when they selected the people who would get to ask their questions, they also decided

which of the candidates the questions would go to.

Since Clinton is married to a former president, the boy might have been thinking the organizers wanted to put her on the spot in a humorous way: would she feel that she had to claim her husband was the most inspiring president, or would she feel obligated to say it was Obama, who had made her SoS and had essentially endorsed her in a recent interview?

Since neither of the other candidates has close personal ties to other living presidents, they would not feel put on the spot by such a question, so I imagine the boy was thinking that was why they chose his question for her.

I am a Bernie supporter, and I realize it could possibly have been a plant and a canned answer, but I think my more benign explanation is much more likely.

[JDPriestly]

81. The evening was set up to favor Hillary. But for me, she talked too much about herself and

her experience, much of it irrelevant. It just reminded me how little real political experience she has had compared to Bernie.

I did not hear all of her answers, but I thought she was weak.

Bernie was great!!!

[riversedge]

85. So, you make more crap up to contribute to this conspiray OP. Shame on you.

[DhhD]

111. In teaching older students for 40 years, this young man seems to have come in to - listen and

compare, Secretaries. He walked in on the Clinton side of the fence. Then he could see why they were controlling the questions. Clinton certainly wants to remain on her side of the fence, as moving Left lately, has not been good at all for her. Questions that she does not control, like at the debates and though another candidate's campaign, have caused anger and aggression that should not be happening for any politician who could have control of the red button at 2:00 AM. Instead of anger and aggression, Clinton should be providing real answers but instead she is telling the people that she asks the questions and answers them too in a Hillary Presidency. She is still angry about Democrats not electing her in the Primary of 2008. What is our punishment once she is in office? She scares the crap out of me. And this is the new crap that she is flinging.

[Agschmid]

4. He also called her Secretary Sanders...

Think they planted that too?

[Ed Suspicious]

13. Yeah, that's some real out there stuff thinking that they might load some questions for her.

Crazypants cuckoo bird stuff. Must be off our rocker to think that could be the case.

Go on.

[FrenchieCat]

27. Maybe it was a Sanders supporter.....

Who got nervous, but is so inspired that he can't get Bernie out of his mind!

[draa]

32. -

[cherokeeprogressive]

5. I kept wondering if there would be a bulge under her jacket if she turned around...

like there was under W's.

[FourScore]

16. I know, right? n/t

[FrenchieCat]

21. Wow....

Glad the candidates aren't nasty like some of their supporters!

Guess a woman who is assertive must have a penis, hey?

[TCJ70]

24. Woah...slow down...

...the reference here is an earpiece and transmitter with someone feeding her questions and answers.

[FrenchieCat]

30. Oh....good....

but still nasty!

[TCJ70]

31. Honestly...

...who has a back-penis anyway? lol

[cherokeeprogressive]

35. Ace Ventura.

[FrenchieCat]

41. I just really remember W's cod piece.....

that's how I got there....

[merrily]

108. No, that's not how you leapt there.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

110. Maybe at the next Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas

A lot of functionality can be installed in a package these days.

[murielm99]

47. And that is a totally nasty smear.

If anyone needs help, it is Sanders. He gives the same speech over and over, and canned answers. Does he even listen to the questions?

[Gene Debs]

65. HA HA HA HA HA! "He gives the same speech over and over." Yes, he does. Whereas Hillary Clinton

has a different speech on every issue, depending on whatever focus group she's addressing.

[murielm99]

66. She has detailed plans.

Bernie does not.

[Gene Debs]

67. and her details change too. As far as Sanders' plans—None are so blind as those

who will not see. His plans are all laid out online for anyone who cares to actually look for them.

[murielm99]

70. As are Hillary's

if you visit her website. And hers are better and more detailed.

He was asked many times for details on his health care plan. Right before the debate, he released an eight page rough draft.

[politicaljunkie41910]

76. Not only does Sanders give the same answers but he avoids the question asked

and finds a way to work his canned answer into the original question and even work up that canned anger while doing so. The only thing new is that he's now trying to show that grouchy Uncle Bernie he has a sense of humor.

[murielm99]

83. Correct.

I noticed that during the debates.

Can you imagine him sitting down with Putin or the Iranians and doing that?

[merrily]

105. Calling someone sexist ridiculously is not a nasty smear?

[Agschmid]

39. DUzy...

[John Poet]

68. Why, is Bill's now missing? LOL

If Hillary finally gave him a 'Lorena Bobbitt',
she might pick up a couple million votes...

[merrily]

103. As if continuous accusations of sexism aren't nasty?

The post said nothing about "aggressive" and penises usually make bulges in trousers, not jackets, but you came up with accusing a poster of being sexist--ironically after making a crack about the nastiness of Sanders supporters.

[tblue37]

80. Really? W is a moron, whereas HRC is a brilliant woman with great command of the language.

I support Bernie, but it is simply absurd to suggest that Hillary can't speak circles around most people without help from someone offstage feeding her answers.

[VulgarPoet]

101. Oh, she's definitely a gifted orator.

Given she can say lie about something she said back in 2004 yesterday and have people eat it up like she's the second coming of Christ...

[merrily]

107. Being the DNC's chosen automatically gets you support from some. Oratory or not.

[Ed Suspicious]

6. I heard it. Jaw dropping that we got to hear it.

[global1]

7. Who Gave Who The Question?.....

There was a post on DU earlier today where a female was given a question to ask Hillary by her campaign. They needed a college student. Is this the same thing happening here?

[Duckhunter935]

10. very well could be

Nothing surprises me about her campaign

[840high]

69. I read that post. Most

likely same thing happening.

[Duckhunter935]

8. I saw that too

Maybe CNN will have "breaking news"

[joshcryer]

11. He was called to ask the question he submitted.

Please don't let this become a fucking thing!

[Agschmid]

42. Too late.

[retrowire]

63. are you serious? nt

[joshcryer]

64. Yes, that's how they almost always take questions.

[retrowire]

71. the guy said

"I can see why they gave you this question"

the question was not his own.

[joshcryer]

74. He was referring to his question.

Brett Rosengren
‏@Brett_Rose1596

Brett Rosengren Retweeted Addy Cole

This was not completely random, but I was my own question directed to any candidate

https://twitter.com/Brett_Rose1596/status/691859242614157312

Addy Cole
‏@addycole

@qualityrkc @Brett_Rose1596 The staff at CNN. #demtownhall had a disclaimer that questions were screened and sorted.

https://twitter.com/addycole/status/691858868968751104

[retrowire]

112. yes my wife found this out last night

I am now clarified on the matter.

[whatthehey]

106. Why they gave YOU this (my) question

Pretty simple really. Audience submits questions to organizers. Organiozers pick their favorite submissions and assign them to a candidate.


The "you" is the important bit. If he's been given the question it would have been "I can see why they gave ME this question FOR you."

[oberliner]

12. I noticed that as well

I thought it was a little strange.

Sort of a pointless question if you ask me.

[Renew Deal]

14. I don't understand what happened there

I don't get what he meant. Why would they give her that question? Was it his question?

[Broward]

17. That question certainly raised questions.

[cherokeeprogressive]

19. I think it answered a few as well.

[OrwellwasRight]

23. +1

[draa]

36. Lol, well done.

[CoffeeCat]

22. Wow! I hope the media caught that

And asks him what he meant!

Wouldn't be that difficult to track him down.

If anyone did plant questions...oh boy.

[ecstatic]

25. Obviously all the questions were pre-selected. Each questioner was introduced by name

and occupation/ school. I'm thinking the entire audience submitted questions and were either randomly (or not so randomly) selected from the audience. Like that show the Price is Right.

[Contrary1]

77. Yep. That's how I look at it too. n/t

[Jackilope]

26. Caught that as well. Sadly, we knew there would be plants and softballs for HRC.

The illusion isn't really working when the acting is so blatant and bad.

[FrenchieCat]

33. Cause your brother said you were really a great athelete....

Do you agree?

was a real hard question!

[berni_mccoy]

37. That was a trap. This was canned. There's a difference

[FrenchieCat]

49. Yeah....cause the question about her being called dishonest....

and that why is there a lack of enthusiasm in your campaign?

And why are young people not supporting you?

Yep, soooo soft!

[berni_mccoy]

51. If she knew they were coming they were.

[Fawke Em]

94. That was a set up to talk about his age.

Hell, even Cuomo admitted that when he said he didn't care about Bernie's athleticism.

[toshiba783]

29. What did the moderator say at the beginning?

Didn't the audience submit questions and then CNN screened/selected them?

[berni_mccoy]

34. The person acted as if it was not his question.

I can see why THEY GAVE you this question...

[toshiba783]

52. The person also adressed her as Senator Sanders...

So how he appeared to you isn't indicative of the truth.

It's possible that he submitted this as a potential question for any of the candidates, and just prefaced the question with an acknowledgment of it's awkward nature since it was chosen for her - or perhaps he submitted multiple questions.

[riversedge]

40. Yes, the questionners were introduced by name and school. --FOR ALL 3 CANDIIDATES. NO

CONSPIRACY

[onecaliberal]

38. There is a story somewhere on DU, I read it earlier today about a girl being

Approached by the Clinton campaign to ask a scripted question. She said they had several scripted questions and she wasn't the only 1 to be approached. It was ALL scripted for Clinton. Time warner owns her did anyone think it was going to be fair. I have to say it was worse than I thought it would be.

[riversedge]

43. all 3 CANDIDATES QUESTIONS FOR AUDIANCE WERE INTRODUCED BY NAME AND SCHOOL

DID YOU NOTICE THAT? DID YOU LISTEN TO THE OPENING STATEMENT BY THE MODERATOR??

[Rilgin]

48. I actually missed the opening.

Can you please inform us of how the questions and questioners were selected by CNN. It seems from your post that the Moderator addressed this in his opening statement. I missed it and in fact missed all of the Bernie section although I heard MOM and Hillary.

It was a strange statement to say in a Town Meeting. Your information may clear it all up.

[draa]

44. I think the question we should be asking is...

If the questions were prescreened, which I'm sure they were, who picked the questions to be asked to each candidate. I don't believe it was a planted question but I think it's fair to ask who choose them in the first place.

[JonLeibowitz]

82. My guess? Chris Cuomo. Townhalls are a frickin farce these days -- it is all just optics.

[Rilgin]

45. I caught this as well

It clearly means that he alone did not select this question to ask Hillary. There is no other explanation of this opening.

I can think of some reasonably innocent explanations such as the question was actually his but CNN determined either randomly or by selection that it would be addressed to Hillary. In this case, this was not what we normally think of as a Town Meeting where the audience determines who they will question and about what.

This clearly demands some explanation from CNN as to how the questions and questioners were determined.

[quickesst]

46. Does anyone think...

... that those people who asked questions were the only ones who were permitted to submit a question?
Better question is why did they schedule this town hall meeting on the very night that the magicians premiered on the sci-fi channel? Huh? Huh? I'm pretty sure DWS had something to do with that. Ok, gotta stop now. Hard to type while you're rolling on the floor

[MrMickeysMom]

50. Could be...

Hard to tell if it was an ad-lib. Frankly, I think the looks on the younger voters faces gave much away. Their bullshit meters are pretty rock solid.

[oberliner]

53. Maybe he meant the question to be for Bernie not Hillary and they had him switch

That would explain why he called Hillary "Secretary Sanders" initially and then made the comment.

[Uncle Joe]

56. Why would they have him switch? Maybe my clock is wrong but one thing I noticed on that last

question it was four minutes past the hour when the Town Hall should have ended.

I do believe that question was meant as a closing subliminal image tying Hillary to President Lincoln.

It was a gift by CNN.

[senz]

57. CNN's post show discussion played Hillary up & ended with her.

Interesting that the two panel members who stood up most strongly for Sanders were Van Jones and Donna Brazil.

[retrowire]

72. yeah the post show was all about Hillary.

weird.

[oberliner]

88. What do you think he meant by his remark?

I am trying to figure out what the "I see why they gave you this question" comment means.

[Uncle Joe]

95. On the face of it this sounds like someone other than him selected the question, although

it's not a total lock, it's possible he just worded it badly and was just referring to CNN allowing him to issue that particular question to Hillary.

[Matariki]

61. That might be. On the other hand one could say her answer was well prepared

[Rilgin]

54. One other thing I noticed.

When Hillary was answering questions from the audience, the moderator left the entire stage to her. When MOM and Bernie were answering, he stayed on the stage.

I do not want to make too much of this but the impression it leaves is that she is the headliner and that the early questions were over and it would become a Hillary event rather than a moderated town hall event. This was the case even when Bernie was walking the stage. The moderator was on stage although off to the side.

When she was addressing the audiance, he was off stage She was left to engage directly with the audience by herself.

[senz]

58. Good point. Very observant.

[riversedge]

87. OMGGGGOO>>>>>>>>>>>Another fricking Make up piece of crap by a Sanders fan that is bound to

circulate and become the 'truth" You learn well from the RW conspirators

[Matariki]

59. so busted

[lovemydog]

60. I can understand why CNN would have varied questions

that are vetted somewhat beforehand. I think CNN should explain how they come up with questions and how they're assigned.

All the candidates do lots of town halls. Some are on c-span. Some of the questions can get pretty whacky.

I don't want to watch a town hall shortly before the first caucus where the questions are 'Who do you think will win the Super Bowl?' or 'What's your favorite beer?'

[Spitfire of ATJ]

73. Damn,...nothing on but reruns.

[AzDar]

75. K & R

[Hoyt]

78. Another stupid conspiracy theory debunked. Anyone think people will ever wise up?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511068498

[riversedge]

84. Chuckle. 53 RECs. Sad for DU

[FSogol]

86. +1, LOL n/t

[oberliner]

89. Right, so they decided to have that question go to HRC

But the questioner had not intended it for her necessarily - so the remark expresses that it made sense that they would choose to have him direct the question to her since her husband is a former president.

[Hoyt]

102. They did not "write the question for him." That's implication. Clinton had a 1 out of 3 chance to

get any question at random.

I suspect CNN decided when they saw the kid's question, hey this would be a cool question for someone whose husband was Prez, let's see how she handles it.

[oberliner]

113. Agreed

The young man wrote and submitted the question (directed it towards any candidate). CNN decided to have it asked to HRC, probably because her husband had been POTUS. The questioner realized this and made his comment.

[berni_mccoy]

91. Who said it was a conspiracy? I stand by my observation.

The young man said what he said. It was most certainly a canned question. And her answer was clearly prepared. Nothing in my OP is debunked by what you linked.

[mcar]

98. I predict a dozen more OPs about this

Facts be damned.

[Skwmom]

100. That does not debunk it. n/t

[Fast Walker 52]

90. it's such a dumb fucking question-- no real person cares about that shit

"what president do you admire most?"

massive eye-roll.

[berni_mccoy]

92. Agreed.

[thereismore]

104. Yep. nt

[99Forever]

96. Seems glaringly obvious.

Hillary can't compete unless the game is rigged. Unfortunately, in matters of State, that doesn't work.

[ljm2002]

97. Looked to me like the young man was a Sanders supporter...

...hence the initial slip when he started to say "Secretary Sanders" then corrected himself. Also it implies he may have rehearsed his question as going to Senator Sanders. Then when he says "I can see why they gave you this question" that would tend to imply that those running the town hall decided that his question should go to Secretary Clinton instead.

That's my take. If that's what happened then it would be interesting to know how many questions were redirected to other candidates?

And yes I admit I could be wrong. That's just how it struck me.

[Buns_of_Fire]

99. At least it wasn't "Boxers or Briefs?".

Who's your favorite president? For all candidates, Washington or Lincoln is always a safe bet. For Democrats, FDR and Kennedy are pretty safe. For republicans, naturally, St. Reagan is the ultimate go-to. Any candidate who would answer "Millard Fillmore" would probably be dragged off stage.

[CajunBlazer]

109. I loved her answer