Eat Your Heart Out, Paris Hilton

A 69-year-old retired sewing-machine mechanic from Eldora, Iowa, he attended this morning's Hillary Clinton "Every County Counts" event in nearby Grundy Center expecting that afterwards he'd "get right out of here and go to my car and go home." But he found himself holding his very first press conference instead.

The "typical voter" interview is a ritual repeated at every campaign stop, often at random. In need of a quick cast of heartland characters to color our stories, reporters scan, stalk and, once our prey is cornered, select from a fixed menu of questions: Where do you stand in the decision-making process? Did Candidate X change your mind? What do you think of all the negativity? Where can I get a good loose meat sandwich? (I may be the only one who asks that.) But Higgason wasn't a random target. In fact, there were five of us--Stumper, Pat Healy from the New York Times, Jay Newton-Small from Time and two other scribes--blocking his exit.

The reason: Higgason admitted that he was supporting a rival and challenged Clinton to change his mind. "I've been leaning towards John Edwards because of his tales of two Americas, which really strikes a chord with many of us, especially in Iowa, I think," he said. "I'd like to have your input on what you think about his statements and the situation." That's manna for the media--the campaign in miniature. How will Clinton sell herself to a swing voter? And will it work?

For her part, Clinton steered clear of red meat--despite Higgason's fondness for "two Americas" rhetoric. "Well, of course, I've spent 35 years working to bridge the gap between different parts of our country," she said, launching into a long list of specific accomplishments (children's health care, minimum wage). No applause lines about corporate greed or lobbyists. The point, she said, was experience: "I think it's really important that you look at what we've actually done. Not at what we say or what we tell you we hope to do. Because the best way to determine who can actually deliver change is by looking at who has already done it."

http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2007/12/20/paris-hilton-eat-your-heart-out.aspx

That explains it all.

Everyone knows that Hillary has always been in the back pocket of the powerful sewing machine lobby.

:rofl:

want to piss off a trout!

They'll kill ya!