Plant a Question, Watch An A.B.C. Alternative Bloom?

Hillary Clinton can't shake the bad news cycles that have dominated campaign discourse over the last week -- going on Day 11 -- and tomorrow is not bound to be a brighter day.

Her campaign has admitted that a staffer planted a question with a student in the audience at a recent forum. The story was broken by Grinnell College's paper, The Scarlet & Black. Clinton, a spokesperson said, was not aware that the student had been briefed by a member of her campaign.

Lousy news for HRC going into the very important JJ weekend. But it's made worse by the imminent release of a UNH poll expected to show the race for the Democratic nomination somewhat narrowed.

So does the Drexel debate gaffe + Bill Clinton's musings (HRC, he said, is not so responsible for that failed 1990s healthcare reform effort she's been touting on the trail as evidence of her experience) + the brewing planted question drama = trouble for HRC? Dimmed until her recent tumult, will the chorus of A.B.C. -- Anybody But Clinton -- grow louder?

Expect more on this tomorrow from On Call.

For now, AP's story:

Clinton Staff Planted Question at Forum

By JAMES BELTRAN

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An aide for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton gave a Grinnell College student a question to ask the Democratic presidential candidate during a forum this week in central Iowa.

That the question had been planted by the campaign was not mentioned at the event.

"This is not standard policy and will not be repeated again," the campaign said in a statement issued Friday night. Clinton herself did not know when she called on the student that the question had been suggested by one of her staff, the campaign said.

"The senator had no idea," Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee told The Associated Press.

Clinton appeared at a biodiesel plant in Newton on Tuesday to introduce her energy plan. A student, Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff, later told Grinnell College's student newspaper, The Scarlet & Black, that she was asked by a senior Clinton staffer to pose a question about global warming. She also said that staffers prompted the senator to call on her, the newspaper reported.

"A member of our staff did discuss a possible question about Sen. Clinton's energy plan at a forum," the campaign statement said.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)