Letters to the Editor
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Controlling the distribution of concerns
"What [Clinton] didn't say is that every candidate and every reporter expects a regular share of the questions asked in these events to come from people planted in the audience -- puppets, stooges or well-meaning volunteers, some who act overtly and some who sneak through covertly."
A candidate whose aides have worked hard to set the agenda, filter information, control the distributions of concerns, and limit the spectrum of admissible debate should expect to field prepared questions from planted audience members coached by her own aides.
Plants are not in the same category as "well-meaning volunteers" and "stooges" (of what organizations, exactly?), who have their own agenda. It is surprising that the author cannot distinguish between the agendas of campaign plants and the agendas of others. This is a sloppily reasoned article, with virtually no investigative journalism in evidence.