Suitably Flip

Hillary Campaign Dismisses Local Chinese-American Reporter As "Foreign" Press, Bars From Campaign Event

Hillary's "One Week, One Million" campaign, which is now in its final 24 hours, is not quite on track to hit the grassroots fundraising goal it had set, according to the e-mail update sent by today by Bill Clinton on the candidate's behalf.

But judging from the Clinton campaign's latest west coast gaffe, maybe the "million" in "One Week, One Million" didn't refer to dollars after all, but rather the number of Americans the campaign intends on offending before the week is through.  The 7-day blitz had barely gotten underway before the Geffen-Obama debacle began to unfold.  Not long after Maureen Dowd's column citing Geffen's unflattering comments hit newsstands, Hillary had so overreached in her response as to cast herself as embittered and hypocritical, pitching a highly publicized fit over losing the Hollywood base to which she's duly entitled.

Today, as the initiative heads into the final hours of its attempt to prove grassroots support, the San Francisco Gate reports that Team Hillary might be suffering not only from Hollywood envy, but also from an acute case of xenophobia.  Members of her staff reportedly refused to allow Chinese-American journalists into a campaign event, on the grounds that they were "foreign press", despite repeated explanations that, while they were ethnically Chinese, they were in fact duly credentialed members of the local press.

[Reporter Portia] Li, a prominent journalist who has worked for more than two decades in the Bay Area, said she knew such events routinely begin late and that reporters often are allowed in after they start.

But a staffer told her she was too late to get in. When Li argued, the staffer explained that because she was considered "foreign media" -- which were limited to a single pool reporter -- she could not go in.

Any local media who checked in by the cutoff were admitted.

When Li showed her business card, the staffer asked for two forms of identification, which seemed to Li to be insulting. She said she had never had to show identification at similar events.

"She kept saying this is only open for local media, not foreign press," Li said. "I told her, I'm not foreign press. I'm local media. I was really angry. It's not about myself. It's about how the mainstream looks at Chinese (people) as a whole. Why do they call us foreigners, even they we have a local address on our business card?"

Hat Tip: Human Events

Previously:
Hillary's Star-Studded Grassroots Campaign Hits the Home Stretch
Hillary Spots Swift Boats On the Horizon
Oh, It's On Now
Deluding For Dollars

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Hillary Campaign Dismisses Local Chinese-American Reporter As "Foreign" Press, Bars From Campaign Event

Hillary's "One Week, One Million" campaign, which is now in its final 24 hours, is not quite on track to hit the grassroots fundraising goal it had set, according to the e-mail update sent by today by Bill Clinton on the candidate's behalf.

But judging from the Clinton campaign's latest west coast gaffe, maybe the "million" in "One Week, One Million" didn't refer to dollars after all, but rather the number of Americans the campaign intends on offending before the week is through.  The 7-day blitz had barely gotten underway before the Geffen-Obama debacle began to unfold.  Not long after Maureen Dowd's column citing Geffen's unflattering comments hit newsstands, Hillary had so overreached in her response as to cast herself as embittered and hypocritical, pitching a highly publicized fit over losing the Hollywood base to which she's duly entitled.

Today, as the initiative heads into the final hours of its attempt to prove grassroots support, the San Francisco Gate reports that Team Hillary might be suffering not only from Hollywood envy, but also from an acute case of xenophobia.  Members of her staff reportedly refused to allow Chinese-American journalists into a campaign event, on the grounds that they were "foreign press", despite repeated explanations that, while they were ethnically Chinese, they were in fact duly credentialed members of the local press.

[Reporter Portia] Li, a prominent journalist who has worked for more than two decades in the Bay Area, said she knew such events routinely begin late and that reporters often are allowed in after they start.

But a staffer told her she was too late to get in. When Li argued, the staffer explained that because she was considered "foreign media" -- which were limited to a single pool reporter -- she could not go in.

Any local media who checked in by the cutoff were admitted.

When Li showed her business card, the staffer asked for two forms of identification, which seemed to Li to be insulting. She said she had never had to show identification at similar events.

"She kept saying this is only open for local media, not foreign press," Li said. "I told her, I'm not foreign press. I'm local media. I was really angry. It's not about myself. It's about how the mainstream looks at Chinese (people) as a whole. Why do they call us foreigners, even they we have a local address on our business card?"

Hat Tip: Human Events

Previously:
Hillary's Star-Studded Grassroots Campaign Hits the Home Stretch
Hillary Spots Swift Boats On the Horizon
Oh, It's On Now
Deluding For Dollars