Question by a Malden girl becomes the target of conservative critics
A question from an 11-year-old girl from Malden posed to President Obama this week has riled conservative critics who insist the girl was a plant by the Democratic White House.
The critics point to campaign donations and other partisan links of the girl's mother, Kathleen Manning Hall, who was an early Obama supporter and donated money to his campaign. But a White House spokesman insisted that audience members are selected randomly.
"The President asks people to raise their hands and picks on them,'' White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said at his daily briefing in response to a general question about how the audience is selected at the president's town hall meetings.
The girl asked Obama what she and other kids should make of the signs outside his town hall meeting in Portsmouth that were "saying mean things” about his health care proposal.
“How do kids know what is true, and why do people want a new system that can — that help more of us?”
In her online column, conservative pundit Michelle Malkin said "As we always like to point out: There are no coincidences in Obama world.''
The Washington Times weighed in as well with an editorial titled "Potemkin Town Halls.'' Online critics also found a 2008 post by Manning Hall on Blue Mass Group, a Democrat-leaning political site in Massachusetts. In the post, Manning Hall asks for support to become a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
"I realized Barack Obama was a unique politician the first time I heard him speak, at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, where I was a volunteer. I was simply blown away by his inspirational message, and I continued to follow his career,'' she wrote. Manning Hall ultimately served as a page at the convention.
Reached on Wednesday, she denied that her daughter was planted by the White House.
"A 100-percent flat denial, completely," she said, adding that her daughter said she wanted to ask a question right before Obama began fielding them. The two discussed the question, Manning Hall said, and her daughter wrote it down on a slip of paper.
Manning Hall also said that prior to 2008, she had never worked in politics, beyond contacting her city councilor about local street repairs and other issues.
She worked as a coordinator for Massachusetts Women for Obama during the election. The group had 93 members and raised nearly $9,000 during the campaign, according to online records.
Manning Hall was also named Malden Democrat of the Year at a ceremony in March. She donated $1,750 to the Obama campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign contributions.
Manning Hall is listed a legal assistant at Looney & Grossman, a Boston law firm. Employees of the firm donated $3,000 to the Obama campaign, according to the center.
Tarah Donoghue, a spokeswoman for the Republican Party of Massachusetts, declined comment on the allegations that Manning Hall's daughter was a plant. But she took exception to media reports of "angry mobs" protesting against Obama's health care plan at town hall meetings across the country.
"They're American people," Donoghue said. "And they're citizens rising up against a change they quite frankly don't believe in. We encourage people to do it in a respectful manner."
Stacey Monahan, executive director of the Democratic Party of Massachusetts, did not immediately return messages seeking comment on the plant allegations.
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