Testimonials for Clinton
Amy Fellows of Croton, Iowa had a question for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton Tuesday afternoon at a firehouse in the small southeast Iowa community of Donnellson.
“Are you a Christian,’’ Fellows asked.
“Yes,’’ the senator answered.
“The Lord be with you,’’ Fellows said.
“And also with you,’’ Clinton responded.
The question afforded Clinton an opportunity to talk about her Methodist upbringing in the Chicago of Park Ridge, Ill. and how she learned to make prayer a part of her life.
Then, as if on cue, 84-year-old Rosalie Bentzinger, rose to attest the senator’s comments were true.
Bentizer, who has retired to Donnellson and lives in the house she grew up in, was director of Christian education at the First Methodist Church that Clinton attended while growing up.
Bentzinger also brought along a photocopy of a March 22, 1959 class confirmation photo that included the future senator in the upper left hand corner of the approximately 80 seventh and eighth graders.
Another testimonial came during Clinton’s introduction by Betsy Ebeling of Chicago, who attended elementary school with her. “We really need some nurturing from a mom,’’ said Eberling, who described Clinton as “a great girl friend.’’
Fellows and Bentziner told reporters afterwards they were not prompted by the campaign to make their comments.
Bentizer, who later in life went on to work at the United Methodist Church’s U.S. headquarters in Nashville, said she knew from the time Clinton was a girl attending Sunday school that she would make her life one of service to others.
“Our director of youth work spoke often of her because of her compassion for people even at that very early age and because of the social concerns she had,’’ said Bentzinger. “So we are not surprised at her doing the kind of things she is doing. It is marvelous someone of her caliber is running for president.’’
The visit to Donnellson drew more than 200 people to a community where residents of four mostly rural townships will caucus Jan. 3 on their choice for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. The campaign stop was at the midpoint of a five-day effort by the Clinton campaign to have the candidate or her representatives visit all 99 counties in the state.
Earlier in the day, Clinton held an event in Des Moines with her husband and former professional basketball star Earvin “Magic’’ Johnson.
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Hmm. I seem to recall reading somewhere that Hillary was a Goldwater Girl in her youth. Guess associates from those days either didn’t attend, or were not given the same opportunity to speak.
The pro-Clinton articles on this blog continue
to be mind-numbing. That’s why it really is
“Hillary On The Hudson.”
You are fooling no one with this constant
canonization of “Saint” Hillary.
Several other news outlets (ABC news, local Iowa papers) are reporting this story as a real tear-jerker. “Clinton meets long-lost Sunday School teacher at Iowa campaign event.”
The Clinton campaign claims the Sunday School teacher was not a campaign plant, and that it was a “Surprise” for Mrs. Clinton to find here there. They imply that she had not seen the teacher since she was a child in Sunday School. How heartwarming!
Problem is, Mrs. Clinton bumped into her earlier this April at another campaign event 14 miles away. So much for the long-lost Sunday School teacher! And so much for an unscripted spontaneous campaign moment.
I searched the Internet and found a photo of the “long lost” Sunday School teacher, having BBQ with Hillary at another campaign event in April of this year. No kidding. Took me all of 5 minutes to find, too.
What is disturbing is that many of the other articles about this meeting appear to be word-for-word from a Clinton Campaign press release. At least YOU folks got it right.
“Then, as if on cue, 84-year-old Rosalie Bentzinger, rose to attest the senator’s comments were true.”
The key words are “as if on cue”.
The photo of the April meeting between Hillary and Ms. Bentzinger is available for purchase on wireimage.com:
Event Name: Senator Hillary Clinton at a BBQ Fundraiser in Fort Madison, Iowa
Event Date: April 3, 2007
Caption: Presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., right, greets Keith Fraise, left, and Rosalie Bentzinger during a campaign stop at the rural Fort Madison, Iowa home of Eugene Fraisse on Monday, April 2, 2007. Bentzinger was Senator Clinton’s Sunday School teacher when she lived in Park Ridge Il.
Headline: Senator Hillary Clinton at a BBQ Fundraiser in Fort Madison, Iowa
Venue: Fort Madison
Location: Fort Madison
Credit: Mark Hirsch/WireImage.com
Keywords:
Item Title: Presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., right, greets Keith Fraise, left, and Rosalie Bentzinger during a campaign stop at the rural Fort Madison, Iowa home of Eugene Fraisse on Monday, April 2, 2007. Bentzinger was Senator Clinton’s Sunday School teacher when she lived in Park Ridge Il.
I know Rosalie Bentzinger. So I started looking around for articles about the campaign stop. I’m a little late doing it, for this Robert Bell, who posted above, has already been to every site. But his comments don’t work well for this site because the story reported here mentions that Miss Bentzinger lives in Donnellson, and it doesn’t at all imply that Bentzinger and Clinton have not seen each other for 48 years. She has lived in Donnellson for years and takes care of her brother, a retired minister who is blind. How clever of the Clinton cabal to plant them there years ago.
I know that Rosalie would be absolutely horrified to know how she is being portrayed. And Robert Bell is doing nothing to help the generally positive campaign of his and my common choice, Barack Obama.
You are distorting what I posted, and this is typical of the CLinton response to the gaffe. You are saying I am attacking a little old lady and HOW DARE YOU?
The only “little old lady” I am attacking is Hillary Clinton.
As I noted in postings (of which you are aware) Ms. Brentzinger is a very well known and highly regarded religious leader and scholar and even has a scholarship named after her. She is a PAWN in this scripted campaign event.
The “Hilly Copter” tour (no, seriously, they call it that) was designed to “showcase Hillary’s softer side” which sounds like a Sears commercial. Again, that is a Hillary campaign phrase, not my own creation.
As part of this “tour” the Hillary campaign has “blanketed” Iowa with friends and family who appear at events to give testimonials about Hillary. For some reason, we are to believe that the appearance of Ms. Bentzinger, following on the heels of a question about religiion is a “suprise” for he Clinton campaign? When Hillary knew she was living in Iowa and had seen her 4 months earlier?
Who was the fellow in the audience who shouted out “Her Sunday School Teacher is Here!”. Just an interested observer, or the guy from the campaign who drove her to the event?
And no, NONE OF THE ARTICLES ON THE INTERNET mention the fact they had been together in April of 2007. They all imply this is a long-lost reunion. NONE of the articles on the Internet mention the April meeting.
But some newspapers are starting to investigate this, and the Hillary Campaign is already in damage control mode, accusing me of beating up on a little old lady.
And Henry, how come your name is “David from Harlan” on the Obama site? You said this was “your” post. Why two different names?