When Real Lives Get Swept Into Campaign Rhetoric(Hillary doesn't leave a tip again!!!!)

NPR ^ | Morning Edition, November 8, 2007 | by David Greene

[mware]

Covering a presidential campaign can feel like this: Stop in one town, watch a candidate talk and shake a few hands, then move along to the town up the road.

There went Toledo, Iowa.

So that was Independence, Iowa?

The crowd back in Cedar Rapids sure was big.

It can be easy to see these scenes as photographs passed in a gallery, or a set of props neatly arranged for a candidate to make a pitch.

The reality is, these scenes are full of people with a story to tell — not only of whom they may vote for, but of what drew them to a political event, or how a candidate may have touched them in a fleeting conversation.

On a recent trip to Iowa, I came across two women who clearly had stories to tell. One had a chance encounter with Hillary Clinton. The other sought out Barack Obama.

A Chance Encounter with Clinton

I followed Clinton during a recent bus tour across Iowa, when she and her entourage pulled into a Maid-Rite, a greasy spoon famous for its loose-meat sandwich. Clinton settled into a red stool at the counter, ate a sandwich, chatted with her waitress and then was on her way.

The scene gave Clinton perfect fodder for her next few stump speeches. Turns out her waitress was a single, working mom — just the kind of voter Democrats are courting aggressively this year.

Clinton recalled the meeting for an audience up the road in Boone. "The woman waiting on us — it was her first day," she said, adding, "She was a little nervous. Single mom, raised two boys, works at a nursing home and always has a second job."

If she's elected president, Clinton promised, people like her waitress will have it better.

The way Clinton eased the waitress into her rhetoric is something repeated day after day, by all the campaigns. But in the process, people like the waitress don't always have their stories told.

'Nobody Got Left a Tip'

"I wished I would have been asked first," the waitress, Anita Esterday, said of Clinton's decision to insert her in a speech, adding, "I wish she would have asked if she could talk about me later. I didn't like it when someone called me up and said Hillary Clinton is talking about you. It's like, what'd I do now? What's she saying?"

When I returned to the Maid-Rite a few weeks later, Esterday said the senator had caught her off guard. But once they got talking, she was honest with Clinton about her need to work two to three jobs.

"I've been doing it all my life. Why should it change now that I'm old?" Esterday said.

Esterday does not think Clinton got it. "I don't think she understood at all what I was saying," Esterday said, adding, "I mean, nobody got left a tip that day."

Clinton may have decided not to tip. She was also never given a bill — her meal was on the house. Still, Esterday said Clinton might have left her something: "Maybe they don't carry money, I don't know."

Turns out the visit hurt Esterday in another way. The local paper ran photos of her with Clinton. She said her supervisor at the nursing home isn't a big Hillary Clinton fan, and she thinks that may be related to why her hours were almost totally cut.

Now, Esterday is looking for a different second job. Still, she said she's not upset that Clinton visited the restaurant.

"I got my 15 minutes of fame out of the world," Esterday said. "There you go. I got her autograph. That's something I'll treasure forever."

But as far as the attention she's received? "It hasn't helped me. It's made things worse."

Still, Esterday doesn't blame Clinton; she says she may even vote for the former first lady. She's also considering voting for Barack Obama.

Seeking Out Obama

Obama, in fact, passed through Iowa around the same time as Clinton. At an event in Independence, he asked if anyone had questions. A woman in the front row named Geri Punteney stood up. She said her brother was dying of cancer. When Punteney began to sob, Obama walked over to comfort her.

"I know what this feels like," Obama said.

Punteney recalled how her brother, who has stage 3 lymphoma and leukemia, had to work to keep his health insurance. Obama sympathized with the unfairness of the situation. All Americans, he said, should have access to health insurance — something he said he's committed to doing as president.

"Tell your brother we're thinking of him," Obama said. "Maybe I'll write him a note before you leave today."

Esterday's encounter with Clinton was by chance; Punteney's with Obama, by choice. Yet both women considered these moments – which observers may have dismissed as simply part of a busy campaign day — to be complex and meaningful.

'He Just Seemed Sincere'

Punteney has faced much tragedy. One of her brothers was burned as a boy in a Fourth of July fireworks accident and later died. Her brother, as she told Obama, has late-stage cancer. Her father died recently. Her mother has not been well. Punteney said she cries a lot.

A few weeks ago, at the home in Oelwein, Iowa, she shares with her mother, Punteney said she'd been inspired to see Obama when he came to the area.

"I'd seen the commercials," she said. "And he just seemed sincere, like he's for people like my mom, my brother and me."

Many people feel politicians may not be the first place to turn when in dire need of help. But Punteney said she was confident Obama could do something to make her feel better.

"I never had anyone pay attention to me and my needs — and he held my hand," she said.

I brought a tape recorder to Punteney's house and played her moment with Obama back for her — and his suggestion that he'd write her brother a note. He never did.

"He didn't have time, I guess," she said. "I understand. You know, he was bombarded by so many people. But just knowing he knows — that's more important than a note."

Indeed, Punteney seemed to get just what she wanted from Obama. She got noticed.

[Enterprise]

I went ahead and mailed her a 20 dollar money order a few minutes ago.

[mware]

Good on you Enterprise. Did a final address for her get resolved???If ya got it can you freep mail it to me?

Looks like the Clinton War Room is in spin mode as we speak.

First the tip was on a credit card. Then when the waitress said their credit card terminal does not take tips, the representative said cash was left.

Then the other waitresses chime in that they did not get a portion of the tip either.

[Enterprise]

I used the address Doctor Raoul posted at #139. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit of there was no additional tip left. Just more spin spin spin from the Klintoons.

[Auntie Mame]

"I explained to her that our credit card machine, you know, doesn't add on the tip," Esterday said. "And she said, 'Well, then, they left a $100 bill there.' And I said, 'Well, it didn't get divided up amongst us, because I had gotten nothing.'

Where did you get this article? Thanks for posting it BTW.

This whole thing is just so pure Clinton it's laughable.

Basically, they're calling the waitress a liar. Isn't that nice? That'll get Hillary votes.

I already sent my $1 to her. I think I sent it to the wrong address so just in case nobody forwards it to her, I'll send another buck to this address:

Anita Esterday
Taylor's Maid-Rite
106 3rd Av
Marshalltown IA 50158-2913

Thanks everybody for taking care of this waitress.

[Auntie Mame]

Thanks! I waitressed once for two weeks, it was the roughest job I’ve had (and I was terrible at it). I think servers are among the most underappreciated and underpaid workers around! I will be sending a little sumpin’ to this lady.

Thanks VRWCer. Apparently the first address is not the correct one although I expect the mail will be forwarded to Anita. In case you haven't already mailed your buck to her or want to make sure she gets it, here's the correct address (according to followup posts):

Anita Esterday
Taylor's Maid-Rite
106 3rd Av
Marshalltown IA 50158-2913

Did you read post 160 in this thread with the followup information? Apparently, Anita is sticking to her story and the Clinton campaign is coming up with more ridiculous lies.

[Auntie Mame]

Thanks for taking care of this waitress. Apparently that first address is not the correct one, although knowing Iowans, I'm sure they'll make sure she gets your mail. In any case, here's the correct address:

Anita Esterday
Taylor's Maid-Rite
106 3rd Av
Marshalltown IA 50158-2913

[Auntie Mame]

Fox News reported that the meals cost something like $160 (I can’t remember the exact figure) and was paid by the campaign and that a $100 tip was paid. Anybody know how to check on this information?

Have you read post 160 on this thread? More interesting info.

[Auntie Mame]

Thanks for the correct address. I already sent my buck to the wrong one but it’ll probably get to her anyway. But I’ll go ahead and send another dollar to the correct address.

Sorry to pass on bad information.

The correct address is:

Anita Esterday
C/O Maid-Rite
106 S 3rd Ave
Marshalltown, IA 50158

[Thinkin' Gal]

Well I guess they are Rite about one thing... you’re sure gonna need a Maid after taking one bite of that sorry slop. Egads, isn’t there any shame left in this world?

[VRWCer]

Thank you, Auntie! No I hadn’t gotten it out yet (the mailman came early!) so now I will readdress it and send it out tomorrow. I did see that the He!!ary campaign is trying to do damage control over the narcissist who would be queen. Disgusting, the whole lot of them.

[Bronzy]

If the address is correct, I will send a buck. Another post has confused me as to the address.