Clinton pumps for gas this morning - well sort of...

[sabra]

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/04/clinton-commute.html

ABC News' Eloise Harper and Sarah Amos Report: Hillary Clinton is making the morning commute in search of votes.

Though, for the past 16 years, she's traveled in the security-mandated comfort of sleek black Secret Service suburbans in which traveling "shotgun" has an entirely different meaning, Sen. Clinton, D-N.Y., is turning pain at the gas pump into an election issue.

Making her point on Wednesday in Indiana, Clinton rode to work with Jason Wilfing, a sheet metal worker from South Bend.

Wilfing picked up Clinton from her hotel in the boss's truck for arguably one of the nation's most unusual midweek commutes. Trailed by several police cars and surrounded by two rather large suburbans, Wilfing drove with Clinton in the passenger's seat and an armed Secret Service agent keeping watch in the back.

The pair stopped at a gas station en route to work and pumped over $60 into the tank (Clinton paid but did not pump, admitting she had not pumped her own gas in a while given round-the-clock Secret Service protection and also, notably, properly upholding the "Wilfing flies, Clinton buys" rule).

While inside the station, Clinton attempted to buy a cup of coffee, making her way over to the coffee machine where she had a little trouble getting it to work. Her chief of staff quickly helped her fill up a French Vanilla cappuccino. The clerk joked that it would be $10 prompting Clinton to comment that would be the most expensive cappuccino she'd ever had. The total was $1.23, she handed over a Lincoln and, as she departed added, "I'd love to have your support on Tuesday."

more > pics

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., speaks about gas prices as sheet metal worker Jason Allan Wilfing puts $63 worth of gas into his pickup truck, Wednesday, April 30, 2008, during a campaign event in South Bend, Ind.
(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)


Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., left, rides in a pickup truck to commute to work with sheet metal worker Jason Allan Wilfing, Wednesday, April 30, 2008, as she campaigns in South Bend, Ind.
(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)


Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., pulls herself into the passenger side of a pickup truck to commute into work with sheetmetal worker Jason Allan Wilfing, Wednesday, April 30, 2008, as she campaigns in South Bend, Ind.
(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

[Hope And Change]

1. K & R!

:kick:

[tokenlib]

2. This is pathetic...

This is up there with George Bush Sr. and the grocery scanners. What was the point? Instead of showing empathy it reinforces her elite status.

[PoliticalAmazon]

61. And her desperation. n/t

[jsamuel]

3. whats $10 for a cappuccino when you are worth over 50 M?

lol

[John Q. Citizen]

4. Reminds me of ghw bush at the supermarket. "Wow, they have scanners?"

[flpoljunkie]

32. Reminds me of Hillary's "Gift" ad last Christmas--a blatant, shameless pander!

"Presents": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzBvQ9EeF3k

Hillary's new ad, "Trouble": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jv1_H8xsIs&eurl=http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/

[Eurobabe]

65. LOL

you got that right. Gas, what's that? Something the plebes use.

[Armstead]

5. George Herbert Walker Bush

One of the things that undermined Bush 1 was his cluelessness in a check out line when he was trying to show the "common touch."

If I were Obama, I'd counter with a Photo-Op in which he actually pumped the gas....I assume he still remembers how.

[tishaLA]

7. exactly

Hillary had better hope there's no video of this. And, if there is, that it doesn't get wide circulation.

[sabra]

10. I added some pics to the OP

[KittyWampus]

16. Someone start a thread touting this as her Dukakis moment. What an elitist. French Vanilla

cappucino?

Can't fill up a tank?

Get's into a fucking pick-up truck to go to work with a guy?

[neverforget]

44. Latte sipping elite?

[AllentownJake]

6. Has she ever pumped her own gas?

The last time she was driving herself was probably before self service.

[snooper2]

8. The Queen...

Rides along with one of her peasants...

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:






GOBAMA!

[DefenseLawyer]

9. She's the salt of the earth

She is one of us. Assuming of course, that we are multimillionaires with a 24 hour security detail.

[my3boyz]

11. What? She downs beers and shots but doesn't know how to pump gas

or operate a coffee machine? I thought she was one of them? lol

[Kali]

41. hey I am FAR FAR FAR from elite and I have no clue how to work those machines

Although I sure as hell know how to pump gas ;(

I HAVE tasted those vanilla things from circle k - they are pretty good if you like a hell of a lot of sugar, but my kid had to work the machine. I drink folgers brewed in a 30 year old Mr. Coffee. At home.

[tishaLA]

12. "If you had my life, you'd be tough too."

Yeah. Uh huh.

[KittyWampus]

13. French vanilla cappuccino? She's supposed to be from the salt o' the earth, crotch-scratcher crowd.

[KittyWampus]

14. DU'ers, this is Hillary's Dukakis moment. Instead of riding in a tank, she's too out-of-touch

to know how to fill one.

At least Obama has been driving himself and filling his own tank until this past year.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

15. How can you "forget" how to pump gas?

What's to forget?

[KittyWampus]

17. edited cause it got a thumbs down. I'm sorry

[Greyskye]

19. lame.

:thumbsdown:

[KittyWampus]

20. sorry, took it out.

[Greyskye]

30. Thank you!

:thumbsup:

I heartily agree with some of your other comments up-thread, however. :hi:

[KittyWampus]

31. must have been channeling my inner Rude Pundit.

;)

[sabra]

21. I agree!

[KittyWampus]

28. sorry, removed it. But did then K&R the thread. I will be kicking this one

:)

[cali]

18. fuck, she couldn't even figure out the stupid cappucino machine

more hyper-phony pandering crap from queen hillypoo.

[Barack_America]

42. The cappucino bit is just too much. Can't take her coffee black, I guess.

1. How could she not know that would look terrible? Was she afraid that drinking black coffee would look too much like an Obama endorsement? ;)

2. Gas station cappucinos suck ASS. How could she not know that?

This is just too rich.

[cbayer]

22. Nice story and fun pics.

Thanks.

[cliffordu]

23. OK!!!! NOW she's jumped the shark. Tuzla

Whoever told her this would be a good idea needs to be chemically castrated. And then promoted


:rofl:


tuzla

[AllentownJake]

24. Who on her staff

Thought this was a good idea? Highlight the fact you haven't pumped your own gas in 20 years.

[KittyWampus]

29. We must send this to Olbermann

[onenote]

25. If her gas tax "holiday" had been effect, the bill for filling the tank would only have been $60

and HRC could've afforded to buy Mr. Wilfing a cup of coffee, too.

Little known facts about the gas tax:

Its 18.4 cents a gallon and it hasn't been increased since 1983 -- 25 years.
A congressional committee suggested earlier this year that it be raised by 5 cents a gallon each year for the next five years.

[KittyWampus]

27. I didn't know that. Deserves a thread too. DAMN THIS 3 Thread Limit.

[Texas Hill Country]

26. nice!

[DS1]

33. French Vanilla cappuccino!!!!

[KittyWampus]

35. Oui

[Jed Dilligan]

36. ROFL

[Jed Dilligan]

34. She's just a good ol' boy, never meanin' no harm...

How folksy is she going to get?

This is better than the best parody.

[Frustratedlady]

37. Arrrrrrgh! I didn't see your post and just asked about this sequence.

I hadn't found it and wondered if it was a feature story or an ad.

Great minds and all that stuff.

[KittyWampus]

38. this cannot languish here in GDP, it must go viral.

[Barack_America]

39. She can't pump gas, yet I'm to believe she's experienced with a rifle?

Um, no. Fuck no.

How embarassing.

[Cha]

48. You better believe hilary fudd can shoot..

blanks.

[Barack_America]

51. I demand proof. Bill should make a suitable target.

:evilgrin:

(No worries, she has zero chance of hitting him)

[Cha]

54. But, she can sure hit her Lying whiskey hole.

[SoonerPride]

40. And Obama is a "latte liberal elitist."

snark

[DCofVA]

46. And she said Obama was an elitist?

:crazy:

[Kali]

43. eh the stunt was lame and she shouldn't have done it (although it is sort of a mandatory campaign

photo op that they ALL do) but things at the pump have changed a bit in 20 years (digital and switches are different too) and you can't really hold the fact of the need for security against her.

And I don't know how to work those stupid coffee machines either.

edit - to carry on with my stupid attempt to be fair: I LIVE in pick-ups and other work vehicles, but climbing into one you aren't familiar with CAN be awkward.

OK now please, back to the wars, health care, and our toilet swirling economy....

[thoughtcrime1984]

45. Wow, does Gandhi own that gas station?

The one that Hillary joked about him owning a few years ago? She should really learn how to pump gas and fill a cup of cappucino.

[yellowcanine]

47. Does she have no shame at all? This is embarrassing. When does she ride in pickup trucks?

I mean I understand campaigning, kissing babies, etc. but a photop riding in a pickup truck?

[americanstranger]

49. And it's a spanky-new, clean pickup truck!

A real working man's pickup would have probably been beneath the Lion Of Tuzla's comfort level.

Let her pile into a truck with tools in the cab and some dirt on the windshield, then we'll talk.

- as

[KittyWampus]

52. they had to get a BIGGER pick up truck to fit the SS men that travel with her.

[Cha]

50. Didn't hilary help drive up those prices with her

Yes vote on the IWR without reading the 90 page NIE report?

There's just no hypocricy like hilary Hypocricy!

Here some more Indiana posing..


While Obama plays basketball.

[AnarchoFreeThinker]

53. There's our role model, riding to the pump in a gas-guzzler. Merry Christmas, Irony.

[stillcool]

55. Gas Pump Challenged...

does she know how to pay for it? I'd love to see her swipe that card!

[Barack_America]

56. I'd love to see that card get declined...

...and cut up by the attendant.

:evilgrin:

[high density]

57. The F-250(?) is such a gas miser

Great idea for commuting to work if it is snowing out. Oh, it's not snowing?

[powergirl]

58. Who's the latte drinker now?

You know, this reminds me of a story. A lawyer friend of mine had to try a criminal case in a nearby county in a smaller town. This high profile criminal case had to be moved from our larger county b/c the judge was concerned that he could not seat an impartial jury.

So, one morning, before the trial began, my friend, the attorney, was in the small town judge's break room area - where the coffee machine was. He poured himself a cup of Folgers into the ole' styrofoam cup. His colleague, he knew, liked cream and sugar in her coffee. So, he wanted to get her coffee as well. The attorney asks the judge, "Excuse me, where is the cream and sugar?" The judge responded, "Drink your coffee like a man, son." The attorney tried to explain that he was, in fact a man, and the cream and sugar was for his friend, etc. But the judge was not impressed! So, when you are hanging out with a truck driver in Indiana, don't order the Vanilla Watchahoochie coffee and confuse everyone and look out of your element. Just get your black coffee and be done with it! Also, don't wear a silk scarf in said truck.


:evilgrin:

[KittyWampus]

59. fly, little thread, fly

[Barack_America]

60. She's wearing the same pink color as during her O'Reilly interview.

Is this how she got to that interview?

If so, how cute. I'm sure the sight was enough to thaw Bill's icy heart.

:puke:

[Barack_America]

62. Yep. She's wearing the same clothes as during the O'Reilly interview.

She was either on her way to or from that interview here.

Somehow that makes this all so much worse.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

63. Cappuccino? Isn't that... elitist?

[ellisonz]

64. Staff fuck up!

[Barack_America]

67. Indeed.

Or perhaps they've stopped getting their paychecks?

[Skidmore]

66. "Trailed by several police cars and surrounded by two rather large suburbans..."

So much for conserving energy.

[LisaM]

68. This is a cappucino machine at a GAS STATION

A clue: it's probably not real cappucino. They just CALL it that. I've tried using those things too and they're stupid. Basically you just get regular coffee with fake flavoring.

Clinton in the truck is no more ridiculous than Obama being "guarded" by the North Carolina basketball team. It's all just campaigning. Get a grip.

And, frankly, given the fact that as a former first lady, Hillary is under Secret Service protection, it would be pretty strange if she actually was out there pumping her own gas. I doubt if her detail lets her, and it would be a pretty huge security risk. At least she got out there to see what gas is really costing.

[Barack_America]

69. MORE LINKS!

This is really too much, guys.

Looks like there were TEN vehicles in the entourage and they had to shut down the gas station for an hour! Bet those real commuters were mighty pissed off!

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/clinton-stops-at-the-pumps/


Also, please check out this article. It's a RIOT!

She Hasn't Pumped Her Own Gas In Years

SOUTH BEND, IN -- Barack Obama wouldn't debate Hillary Clinton in a flat bed truck. But there she was today, sitting shotgun in one, driving home the argument that her rival doesn't share her concern about the average Joe Six-pack when it comes to fuel prices.

When Clinton's traveling press corps was told late last night that the candidate would be "commuting" to work with a "typical" Hoosier, the questions came rapid-fire. When was the last time Clinton pumped her own gas? When's the last time she even drove? And, most to the point, what was a stunt like this going to prove?

The message of the week, in both North Carolina and Indiana, has been Clinton's plan for a gas tax holiday. So the bit of showmanship was a creative way to keep reporters talking about it -- even as the story line and tepid back-and-forth grew stale.

And like all publicity stunts, it was transparent. The worker, Jason Wilfing, belongs to a union that has endorsed Clinton (though he maintained he is undecided). Rather than Clinton meeting Wilfing at his home, he came to her hotel to pick her up. Wilfing actually lives outside of South Bend in the town of Plymouth, 45-minutes away. Perhaps best of all, he wasn't even driving his own car. He had to borrow the pickup of his supervisor so that Secret Service could come for the ride, too...

An entire play-by-play of the event follows...
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/04/she_hasnt_pumpe.html

[scheming daemons]

70. This is AWESOME! Mrs. salt-of-the-earth shot drinker fills up 8 SUVs and drinks

french-vanilla cappucino.


Are you sure that Obama's camp didn't plan this stunt for her?



PRICELESS!

[Barack_America]

71. Hillary vs. the coffee maker (VIDEO)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x125800

Thanks malik! :hi: