Letters to the Editor
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Glass houses?
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/04/18/918236.aspx
Glass houses? Posted: Friday, April 18, 2008 4:33 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: 2008, Clinton, Obama
From NBC/NJ’s Athena Jones, NBC’s Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro
The Clintons are teaming up to paint Obama as a whiner who can't handle the kind of tough questions that will face the next president. Bill and Hillary Clinton say they’ve never whined about debates. But that it not quite true.
Debates can often leave one side feeling more hammered than the other and the Clinton camp hasn't been shy about attacking the questioners/networks for what they saw as unfair or overly harsh treatment in past match ups.
Is this a case of, “Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones?”
There were, after all:
- The "piling on" comments after the Oct. 30 Drexel debate at which she lost her footing over the immigration/driver's license issue
- The point she made about always getting the first question at an NBC debate
- Also at the NBC Cleveland debate, her joking remarks about Obama maybe needing a pillow -- a reference to a Saturday Night Live skit.
The AP also weighed in and said Clinton has “complained” about past debates. The Clinton campaign disputes that with this e-mail rebuttal from Clinton spokesman Phil Singer:
“ ‘The AP reports today that Hillary ‘complained’ about her treatment in a debate last October and ‘complained’ that she always got the first question in a February debate: ‘But it wasn't so long ago that Clinton was the front-runner and complaining about her treatment in debates. After a debate last fall, her campaign compiled clips of her being targeted, and called it the ‘Politics of Pile On.’ In late February, Clinton complained that she always got asked the first question.’ [AP, 4/18/08]
“Actually, Hillary never ‘complained’ about getting asked tough questions from moderators in October. She said that she understood why her opponents were targeting her and she welcomed it. She said, ‘I think they are piling on because I’m winning. And I understand that.’ Hillary added, ‘I anticipate it's going to get even hotter, and if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen. I'm very much at home in the kitchen.’
“According to PolitiFact, Hillary's comment that she almost always is asked the first question was true. Hillary said, ‘I just find it kind of curious that I keep getting the first question on all of these issues. But I'm happy to answer it.’”
NBC’s David Gregory, liveblogging on First Read during that debate wrote, “But what's wrong with getting the first question? I don't think she made a clear argument there. Getting the first question allows her to set the tone for the answer, why is she against that?”