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.
Those of you who are old timers here know what I am talking about.
Hey lady - welcome to socialism...
I sent 20 dollars to the waitress in New York. I’d do it again.
Hillary did the same thing when she ran for senator inNY. FReepers sent the waitress at least 500 dollars
Not sure I’d tip for a made-rite anyway. It’s the most bizarre thing I’ve encountered since moving to iowa. It’s basically ground beef on bread. Not a sloppy joe - there’s no sauce. It’s not a hamburger - it’s just loose ground beef.
I think it’s called made-rite cuz there’s no way you could make it wronger.
.
Heck Jen, Hillary did not even have to pay for the lunch it was a freebe. She could have left the woman a small tip, the meal didnt cost her a cent. Although I suspect this article getting out there is going to cost her in PR bigtime. This is not the first time she made this mistake.
Always has a second job? You mean, all through the Greatest Economy In The History Of The World? From 1992 to 2000, this poor woman had to work TWO jobs?? Well, I sure hope Hillary can help her out!
I think the waitress understands the real world a lot better than Hillary. For Hillary it's all soundbites and rhetoric. The waitress understands that it's just what you do.
God help us!
I think everybody should send a dollar to Badeye.
When the article says that the waitress was the type of person that Dems are “aggressively courting this year”, then who did they “court” before? Does that statement just seem a little too condescending or is it just me?
It sounds (to me) like the poor waitress was exploited by Hillary just as Dems have been exploiting the “working poor” since they created the term. Whats new about that? It’s what Democrats do all the time. This sort of story should be in every paper every day showing the American people how people are being exploited by Dems for political sound bites. But the dems never actually help the people they rail about. It drives me crazy sometimes.
Yeah, I was trying to be tongue-in-cheek there. It is a pretty scummy thing to do especially if you’re going to use the woman as a prop in your speech later.
Of course, she was apparently stupid enough to still be thrilled about meeting Hillary...
Personally, if I’d been waiting on her, there would have been at least one tripping-with-a-coffeepot incident.
*sigh*
I sent her a tip (a fiver) as well. I’d do it again. As I recall, it got more than a little bit of coverage on talk radio and, of course, the Internet with a little bit in the Washington Times. I would imagine that a repeat would be even more well covered. I would think that it might also be even more importantly coverage in Iowa in the local press. I am sure that the Obama and Edwards camps would also spread the word. Moreover, this waitress looks like she could use a little help. Let me know if somebody starts a donation movement...
As the waitress said, it would have been nice if she asked me before using me in her speeches.
Get use to it lady, if she wins she is going to use everyone.
LOL, Bad, you’re bad.
Where do we send it?
Actions speak louder than words - to Hillary CLinton, a waitress is less of a human being and therefore not worth her notice unless it’s for political gain. Maybe the next debate ought to start with this questions for Mrs. CLinton, “If you are for helping the average middle class worker, how come you have deliberately stiffed 2 single mom waitresses in your campaign tours?”
“Always has a second job? You mean, all through the Greatest Economy In The History Of The World? From 1992 to 2000, this poor woman had to work TWO jobs??”
That is very common in America and has been for at least generations.
Machinists, waitresses, security guards, even firemen and police are just a few of the people that commonly have a second job.
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