Posted on 11/08/2007 7:08:28 AM PST by 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.
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.
It seems you did not quite grasp the sarcasm. If during the Clintoons reign during the 90’s - if the economy was so damn great - why would she need to have a second job.
I’d send her a tip.....but only WITH THIS STORY....
Explaining Taxation
When explained like this, it is much easier to understand our current tax code.
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
*The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
* The fifth would pay $1
* The sixth would pay $3
* The seventh would pay $7
* The eighth would pay $12
* The ninth would pay $18
*The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59
So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. “Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20.”
Dinner for the ten now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his “fair share?”
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to eat their meal. So, the restaurant owner suggested:
* The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings)
* The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings)
* The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings)
* The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings)
* The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings)
* The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings... the least proportionate savings)
Each of the six paying customers was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings: “I only got a dollar out of the $20,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, “but he got $10!”
“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than me!”
“That’s true!!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!”
“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!”
As a consequence, the first nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start eating overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
VOTE ACCORDINGLY......
She had a “loose meat sandwich”? She’s been dealing with loose meat for a long time.
“It seems you did not quite grasp the sarcasm. If during the Clintoons reign during the 90’s - if the economy was so damn great - why would she need to have a second job.”
You’re right I missed it, on second reading it is very clear and funny.
Doc, it’s time ofr another donation drive!
One would think that might warrant a bigger tip.
"She's also considering voting for Barack Obama."
Easterday needs to have her head examined.
They better count their silverware too.
Thanks....my first morning laugh!
That’s disgusting. Thanks for posting it—helps my diet.
Tip is on the way :-)
“Loose meat” sandwich? Is that before or after you eat it?
Drudge now has this flashback link up
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash.htm
February 11, 2000
It’s all the buzz in Albion: Hillary stiffs a single mom
By Barbara J. Saffir
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
ALBION, N.Y. Maybe it’s no big deal elsewhere, but it’s all the buzz in Albion.
Hillary Rodham Clinton dropped into the Village House, a favorite diner in this upstate farming town, and ordered two orders of scrambled eggs, home fries and rye toast. So far, so good. The locals appreciate a hearty appetite.
Her breakfast was on the house, and when she left the waitress, a single mom, found not a penny at her plate.
-snip-
*
Rush is discussing this incident now....
Rich people don’t carry money. JD Rockefeller wass an exception. He always carried dimes. Of course, a dime was in his time worth more than a dollar today.
I read your tagline. I salute you, your father, your son, and your brothers.
I guess is just sounds better to say: "Her Royal Highness does not need to carry 'money'."
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