I just got back from the “Solutions for the American Economy Town Hall” event with Hillary Clinton on the campus of Columbus State Community College. I promised you I’d share my impressions of the event when it was done. Well, my impressions are not what I expected, to say the least.
I received an invitation at 10:32 AM this morning to attend, and promptly RSVPed with my name and contact information. I arranged for a babysitter and everything (not cheap) so I could go to see this Clinton for President event, talk to people and get a sense of the campaign up close. Up close is not what I got. After running through a half-mile of slush and hard-falling hail to get to the building where Clinton would be, I was told that I wouldn’t be able to see Hillary Clinton after all. “But I have an RSVP!” “I’m sorry, sir,” I was told in a no-nonsense voice, “but you will have to go down the hall where we have another room.” I noticed that there was a table a few feet away that said “Press Sign-In” and I asked whether as a political blogger I could enter the press area — I could see through a clear window and an open door the press area was taking up about a fifth of the ballroom space where Clinton was talking. “No bloggers,” the man there said, and waved me down the hall.
It turns out there were two “another room”s. This was what the one I ended up in looked like:
Not very full, and neither was the other remote viewing room. In both, we were provided a view of the event on the cable channel CNN:
“Shit,” said a guy sitting next to me, “I could have stayed home and turned on the tube for this.” And we could have, too. My socks wouldn’t have been soaked and I wouldn’t be sitting in a cheap plastic chair either (all right, I’d be sitting in a cheap wood chair, and I don’t have cable TV, but still). After a while I wandered over to the other room and watched from there. After a few more minutes of watching cable TV instead of watching the actual event, I decided I’d had enough and headed toward the exit. People from these “remote viewing rooms” had been filtering out and heading home for a while already, and I joined an elevator full of union people holding “IUPAT for Hillary” signs. I told them I’d only been invited that afternoon and wondered whether that was why I wasn’t let in to see the actual “town hall” event. No, they replied, they’d been invited the night before that, “and we had 13 reserved seats.” They still weren’t let in, and they were not happy about it.
I don’t have anything substantively unique to tell you about Hillary Clinton, because all I have to tell you about her this evening is what you could see for yourself on CNN, and that was pretty typical fare from the political menu of the Bush years: a backdrop with a slogan on it (Tonight, “Solutions for the American Economy”), some obviously pre-selected people with weepy tales to tell, and Hillary Clinton patting arms and then talking about her platform.
I have no idea who it was that got to go in the room and who it was that wasn’t. I have no idea what was actually going on in the rest of the central ballroom where Clinton’s event was unfolding, except from that peek through the door showing me about a fifth of the room filled with the press and some impressive-looking cameras. I see here that the ballroom is built to seat “up to 360 people,” so with the press and all that means there were probably about 290 people in the room with Clinton herself. There were about 50 people in the two remote viewing rooms, so that makes for 350ish people turning out to see Hillary Clinton in Columbus, Ohio less than two weeks before the primary. That’s all I know.
This experience won’t change how I vote — after watching Barack Obama’s somewhat dazed, thoroughly scripted debate performance last night I’m wavering away from enthusiasm about him. But I have to ask myself — if Hillary Clinton’s strategist has really billed her $10 million so far for his advice, is this really the best strategy the campaign can come up with? Here’s some alternative advice, Senator Clinton, and I don’t charge a fee: when you invite people to a national political event, hold it in a venue that houses as many people as you’ve invited. Don’t let certain people in and shunt other people into an unannounced sloppy-seconds cable TV room. You lost the opportunity to convert voters last night.
And hey, while we’re at it — the canned, pre-recorded robocall I got from your campaign just a few minutes after I returned home was pretty much the anti-icing-on-the-cake. What, are you trying to piss me off?
Sheesh. Good thing I’ve read all your policy papers and agree with most of them, because if I hadn’t, I’d be giving you the one-fingered salute.
How about her torture policy. You agree with that?
How about her Democratic Leadership Council policy. You agree with that?
How about her invade Iraq policy. Agree with that?
How about her vote for the Patriot Act policy. Agree with that?
How about her lack of explanation for her husband’s refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Agree with that?
How on earth could someone who recognizes and appreciates the courageous progressivism of Barbara Boxer (nay to Iraq, nay to Kyl-Lieberman, yea to banning cluster bombs, yea to banning waterboarding) find “policy” commonality with the herd-follower otherwise known as Hillary Clinton?
Here’s all you need to know about the junior senator from New York: After Abu Ghraib, after Gitmo, after hoods, dogs, prods, electrodes, human pyramids, [1] Clinton still feigned ignorance on what the meaning of is, is, on the matter of torture:
“It is not clear yet exactly what this administration is or isn’t doing. We’re getting all kinds of mixed messages,” Clinton said. “I don’t think we’ll know the truth until we have a new president. I think [until] you can get in there and actually bore into what’s been going on, you’re not going to know.”
Now THAT’s tortured.
P.S. Boxer IS and has been an Obama backer in everything but outright endorsement.
[1] http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=%2B%22abu+ghraib%22+%2Btorture&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
[2] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/09/AR2007100902284.html
Being a blogger seems to be the kiss of death at these events.
I recently crashed an Obama event, and tried to get in the press area, but was told you had to have your name on their list ahead of time. The press were in the back with all their fancy lights and white umbrellas and stuff, whereas I’m a bit more lo-tech, to say the least. But when I tried to get in where the crowd was going, I was stopped by some snotty but expensively dressed young kids and told that I would have to go in the press entrance. I did get in eventually, watching carefully to see how people got in where and what color tickets they were presenting, then joining the coattails of a group that was not getting checked.
When I think about how easy it’s been for me to get access to royals and world leaders in other countries and even photograph them at public events, this type of thing is absolutely inexcusable.
Haven’t blogged about this yet, maybe I should.
Jesus Fucking Christ, Peregrin and Boxer.
Number 1. I said I agree with most of them. Not all of them.
Number 2. I was specifically referring to her position papers, not her past actions.
Number 3. How about Barack Obama? He hasn’t explained why Bill Clinton didn’t ratify the Kyoto Protocol either.
Number 4. Jeezee Poleeezee, Boxer for Prez, if you want to play the “all you need to know” game, I can cherry pick stupid and anti-progressive shit Barbara Boxer has done. Golly, “how on earth” could you support someone who put a military man in charge of warrantless surveillance at the head of the CIA? Hillary Clinton didn’t vote for the Hayden confirmation. Boxer did. Why, you must be STOOOPID not to support Hillary Clinton!
What is this, a fucking religion?
The answer is that no, it is not a fucking religion, and Barack Obama is not God, and Hillary Clinton is not the devil. She has done stupid shit and I have criticized her for it… and she has done a fair number of good things too. Oh, golly, the apostasy of it all to say that! Quick, someone throw holy water on me!
What do you want? Do you want me to base my vote on how stupidly the Clinton campaign excluded and shunted off the little citizen people from her campaign event? That would be a stupid and petty basis for my vote. Powerful people everywhere treat us little citizen people like dirt. But that’s not a good enough reason to vote against them, and that was part of my concluding point in this post.
P.S. This rant is not a cue for the Clintonistas to whip up the bass drum. I’ve seen enough stupid identity politics around the Clinton campaign to know that there are religious adherents to her, too.
Number 1. No one said you agree with all of them.
Number 2. Position papers are pretty thin indicators of future behavior, when compared with past actions.
Number 3. Barack Obama isn’t running on the basis of his experience in the Clinton White House.
Number 729. I like peanuts.
What is this, a fucking barn sale?
I was at the townhall meeting also – I rsvp’d over the phone around 3:30 yesterday. I think that you and perhaps the people who had rsvp’d for 13 misunderstood what rsvping meant. I don’t think it guarantees you a particular seat. I agree the main room was not big enough. I thought they would have planned for more, because if the whether had not been horrible, Columbus State would have been opened and there would have been a lot of students there, which would have left even less room for those coming to the event from outside of the campus. I got to Columbus State around 5:30 and the seats were almost gone then in the main room. The event started at 6 p.m. and it clearly stated on their website that the doors opened at 4:30. I understand the disappointment you and others must have felt when you didn’t get to see her in person, but sometimes these things happen. I wanted to get there even earlier than 5:30 to get a good seat but had to wait on someone else who went with me – so I sat in the back. It was still a great experience though.
Yes, a total misunderstanding. In civilized society, RSVP means that you’re requested to say if you’ll come or not, so that people can prepare for you to come and have adequate resources for you. In Hillary Clinton’s campaign, RSVP means you’re on your own, but you’ll be good to call later to ask for money.
Hillary Clinton didn’t vote for the Hayden confirmation. Boxer did. Why, you must be STOOOPID not to support Hillary Clinton!
So Boxer > Hayden = Clinton > AUMF? Clinton < banning cluster bombs? Clinton REALLY “must be STOOOPID”
Dear Jim,
It’s not about the boxscore. It’s ALWAYS about the when, where, results and effects of points, rebounds and assists.
Duh.
Hillary Clinton didn’t vote for the Hayden confirmation. Boxer did. Why, you must be STOOOPID not to support Hillary Clinton!
So Boxer > Hayden = Clinton > AUMF? Clinton < not banning cluster bombs? Clinton REALLY “must be STOOOPID”
Dear Jim,
It’s not about the boxscore. It’s ALWAYS about the when, where, results and effects of points, rebounds and assists.
Duh.
So Boxer > Hayden = Clinton > AUMF?
Clinton < not banning cluster bombs?
Clinton < not banning waterboarding or torture?
Then Jim REALLY “must be STOOOPID”
Dear Jim,
It’s not about the boxscore. It’s ALWAYS about the when, where, results and effects of points, rebounds and assists.
Duh.
That RSVP thing was still on Hillary’s website long after the event was over–it’s not there now, but I saw it there last night around 10:00 central time–that would be 11 pm in Ohio.
You progressive purists ought to back up from ideology and take a little dose of pragmatism once in a while. The whole country doesn’t believe with you that there are no terrorists and we don’t have to take any actions to protect the nation. Hillary represents New York. All they have to do is look out the window and they can see in the changed skyline the evidence of a past terrorist attack on our soil.
The patriot act and all the other associated bits of anti-terrorist legislation are not going to be repealed anytime soon. We probably won’t even get habeas corpus back until something changes in the Arab world. Not everyone even agrees that invading Iraq was a bad idea. At the time, it sounded like a long shot, but nobody had a better idea. I’m tired of all you guys with the 20/20 hindsight. What did YOU ever write about the solution to terrorism? Oh, I forgot, it was an inside job by the CIA and there are no terrorists.
The CIA inside job reference is a red herring, and the rest of it is a plea for people to agree with you. Both appeals are unconvincing.
Well, of course I was being facetious–I’m pretty sure none of you guys subscribes to the 9-11 conspiracy theory(even if my union rep does). At the same time, none of you has exactly acknowledged that terrorism is an actual national problem.
I repeat, the Patriot Act–and other associated bits of legislation–are not going away until something in the Arab world changes.
I am hoping that something will be the recognition of Palestine.
Compared to heart disease, accidental drownings, and malignancies of the lip, mouth and pharynx, terrorism isn’t jack shit as an actual national problem. Empirically speaking.
You aren’t progressive. I get that. Well, I am, and I’ve been watching the Audacity of Authoritarian FearMongering Bullcrap play itself out for years now. The Illusion that Nothing Can Be Done is better but not good enough. I prefer the Audacity of Actually Trying To Undo the Bullcrap.
So you’re saying that yes, terrorists kill people and crash planes into buildings but it doesn’t matter because they don’t kill enough of people to make it important.
Would you be so blase about human life if the person in the house next to yours got killed by a deranged lunatic who was still at large? I mean, people do die of heart attacks and stuff. Isn’t it more important to get people to eat vegetables than to arrest someone who is out there running around on your street with a gun and killing people? Empirically speaking.
Oh, and if you don’t agree with me, you’re not a Nice Person Who People Don’t Turn Up Their Noses At. I get THAT. I am.
Answer your own question in regards to the dollar amount spent on cancers of the lip, mouth and pharynx compared to the dollar amount spent on Homeland Security and the War on Terror. Standardize by the number of Americans actually killed per year by the two sources of death.
Oh, one more thing, before I check to see how much Merlot is left in the bottle and take my fingers off the keyboard for the evening–this in less of a devil’s advocate vein and in a more serious note–
I know you live with a med student and probably soak up part of that environment. But consider that in order to be effective in that environment you have to distance yourself from the human tragedy portion of the job. Some people in the medical establishment end up being quite cruel and others simply don’t notice human misery. Everyone who is a caretaker has to come to terms with that on some level. With med students I suspect this has something to do with memorizing all those mortality and morbidity statistics. They can view people as statistics and not as a collection of nerve endings capable of feeling pain. (Have you ever noticed how many physicians don’t automatically write post-op pain med orders?)
But you, Jim, do not work in that environment and can allow yourself compassion, even as you recognize that a different adjustment might be entirely appropriate for someone else. Go re-read the “for whom the bell tolls” poem– and reclaim your humanity.
And if you’re still such a cold fish that you just don’t think the lives of those New Yorkers killed in 9/11 are valuable *statistically* consider that THEY THEMSELVES might think their own lives are important. And the lives of their parents and children and cats and dogs and hamsters as well. And they might VOTE FOR someone who thinks their lives are important. Statistically and empirically speaking, that is. And that the politician who says to them “your life is not important, empirically” will LOSE THE ELECTION.
If you are so heated up about “cancers of the lip, mouth and pharynx”, what have you done about it lately?
What an odd argument you make, that we should all vote our feelings about something rather than pay attention to what’s really happening.
You surely must recognize that the implication of what you’ve been saying is that the lives of the many, many, many fewer Americans who die annually from terrorism are worth more than the lives of the many, many, many more Americans who die annually from these other causes.
Do the math, and then tell me the converse of your argument: that all those many, many more Americans dying from non-terrorism-related causes are unworthy of your consideration.
You’re going to have to think of a better argument than that. Your dude Obama thinks terrorism is a major serious problem and is poised to commit ground troops to Afghanistan, Pakistan. He’s getting his testosterone levels cranked up and getting ready to ignore Pakistan’s sovereign borders in order to take out ben Laden in air strikes. Sharpen your pencil, the “empirically speaking” argument just doesn’t cut it.
What are you doing about cancer? I’m serious. You know I quit smoking. Do you think I didn’t google it? You know what is out there to help people who want to quit? Zip. zilch. Nada. You opened your mouth about what a priority it is; now what are you going to do about it.
Have you tried the Yellow Tail Merlot, Iroquois? It’s a favorite around here.
The Merlot in question is a five dollar bottle of Marcus James from Argentina bottled in 2000. I buy it because it is cheap, and because I can walk to the neighborhood store, our local equivalent of Ralph’s Pretty Good Grocery in Lake Woebegone. (We have a pet boutique and several taverns as well.) Then, because it is winter I mix it with hot spiced cranberry juice. If I was going to drink it straight I would probably go for the Cabernet instead, since Merlot is just a bit dry, especially if you don’t have it with food. I’ll keep an eye out for the Yellow Tail, but wine distribution tends to be pretty local.
And no, now that you mention it, it’s not fair of me to say Obama is Jim’s dude, is it, since Jim is the only one of the writers who has resisted the Obama deification campaign and refuses to bow down to the Obama Holy Cow.
I really have to respond further to Jim’s argument that the value of human life can be reduced to math.
Can you say the lives of people who contract pharynx cancer are worth more than the lives of the children who die crossing the street on their way to school? By that reasoning we should fund cancer research (which, excuse me, in spite of getting such knee-jerk sympathy funding, has not made any real progress in the last 40 years) but we should not fund crossing guards near schools (whose presence does some very valuable things to discourage gangs). Are you really saying that unless people are dying and we can put a dollar value on their deaths, we should not bother with a policy? Or maybe we shouldn’t fund pre-school pre-reading programs, since nobody dies if they can’t spell too good.
Perhaps it comes with the territory of atheism to believe that one human life does not have value, and human comfort does not have value, but you really see it in the field of economics and public administration, where every decision comes down to a bottom line. One argument I saw in a hospital was between an administrator about to purchase hospital bed mattresses and a nurse about to retire who could afford to speak her mind. A new type of mattress was cost effective but the type of plastic was hot and uncomfortable. It was also larger than the other mattresses so the old cotton sheets wouldn’t fit it and new polyester sheets, again not comfortable, would also have to be purchased, but not mattress pads, which also would have made it comfortable for someone who was post-op, feverish, or perspiring to lie in the same bed for several days. For some reason those sheets wouldn’t say on the bed either and kept slipping off. I never found out how that argument ended, but when my father was in the hospital, I saw the same mattresses, the same sheets, and a rash on my fathers back. Clearly they were skimping on personnel too as I could see the sheets hadn’t been changed in several days and had accumulated an assortment of creases, wrappers and even a hard plastic tube of some sort. His roomate got a rash on his back a few days later. Whether he got the MRSA infection too I don’t know. The guy’s wife just happened to be a hospital administrator and remarked on how it must be more cost effective from a “public health standpoint” to buy the cheaper mattress and treat the rashes.
“Are you really saying that unless people are dying and we can put a dollar value on their deaths, we should not bother with a policy?”
No. I didn’t say that. You said that. Pay attention to what I actually said, and respond to what I actually said.
I’m looking at your post #18 which boils down everything to a formula of “dollar amount spend” versus “number of Americans actually killed per year by the two sources of death.” Pretty hard to come to any other conclusion about your viewpoint.
You are saying terrorism is not important enough to do something about because not enough people have died from it yet. But heart disease is. So we should stop wasting our national resources looking for people running around with bombs and instead go after people who don’t eat their vegetables?
If all you can conclude from my words is (in your own words, not mine) “that unless people are dying and we can put a dollar value on their deaths, we should not bother with a policy,” then you have either a very small imagination or an inappropriately expansive one. If the latter is the case, why aren’t you promoting the creation of a laser shield to protect against space aliens? Don’t you CARE about your neighbor? You heartless sod.
How do you know I DON’T have a laser shield?