Opinion: Obama encounters Clinton question-planter

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Does the name Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff ring a bell?

College student. Iowa. Hillary Clinton forum. Question planted with young woman by Clinton staffer. Global warming. Big controversy over campaign ethics and behavior. Lots of denials that it’s regular political behavior. Yeh, right.

Well, guess who ran into her last night? Barack Obama. He was holding his own campaign forum at Grinnell College, and to get in a little dig at his opponent without seeming to be mean he made a passing reference to the night’s questions not being ‘prearranged.’

The young college crowd erupted in cheers and began pointing to the front of the room. ‘Is this the young lady right here?’ a surprised Obama asked. ‘Oh, my goodness. I didn’t know she was going to be here. I’m not going to call on her.’

Now, a cynic who knows how these political performances are carefully planned by advance people and audiences often screened might suspect that Gallo-Chasanoff’s presence was not an accident, even if Obama didn’t know she’d be there. It does make a wonderfully convenient reminder of a major Clinton embarrassment a month ago. But to think that would not be in the spirit of Christmas and charity.

True to his word, Obama did not call on the young woman. But he did chat with her afterward, according to CNN, teasing her about ‘causing all this trouble.’ She asked Obama if it’s possible to achieve a high level in national politics but not compromise your personal morals.

‘You don’t have to compromise who you are,’ the candidate told her. ‘You have to make compromises, but not your core values.’

-- Andrew Malcolm