I would defidently put that into consideration before I voted for a candidate. If a candidate purposely did not leave a tip when they went to a restaurant, then they would not get my vote. Actions speak louder than words, and if you are giving speeches about the plight of the working class, but don't leave a tip for a deserving waitress or waiter, that would cause me to see the candidate as a fake. That's not the type of candidate I want running our country.

Sent by Jennifer Marsh | 12:36 PM ET | 11-09-2007

yaawwwwwwwwn.

Sent by Bryan | 12:38 PM ET | 11-09-2007

No, but I would change my mind about supporting public radio if I found out they didn't check facts

"The restaurant manager, Brad Crawford, confirmed in interviews, including with The New York Times, that Mrs. Clinton, of New York, and her retinue had indeed left a tip, though he did not say how much"

Sent by Rick Grucza | 12:43 PM ET | 11-09-2007

So did her campaign leave the $100 tip or not? I don't get it? How is their controversy over this? Was their a tip or not?

Sent by Jonathan | 1:01 PM ET | 11-09-2007

I think Anita Esterday put it best:

"You people are really nuts," she told a reporter during a phone interview. "There's kids dying in the war, the price of oil right now -- there's better things in this world to be thinking about than who served Hillary Clinton at Maid-Rite and who got a tip and who didn't get a tip."

Come on, NPR -- give us some relevant coverage!

Sent by mary | 1:18 PM ET | 11-09-2007

For all of NPR's interviewing of Esterday, it seems that you missed her NYTimes quotation of the day "There's kids dying in the war, the price of oil right now - there's better things in this world to be thinking about than who served Hillary Clinton at Maid-Rite and who got a tip and who didn't get a tip."

You have the second highest radio audience in the country. You have to get stories right, especially political stories. You owe it to your donors and your stations.

Sent by Steve Beste | 1:23 PM ET | 11-09-2007

I'm a U of Iowa grad who remembers the wait staff recounting that the Clintons are notorious for not tipping AND not picking up the tab at meals. Purportedly they came through the famed Hamburg Inn - a popular campaign stop in primary years - many times and are not famous for their generosity. This is not unique to the Clintons, though. I live in Hollywood now and know many people in service jobs who recount countless exchanges with celebrities who don't tip, some even saying something insulting like "your tip is having met me."

Bad tipping is a nasty habit to pick up, and it's a great way to tell people what a selfish person you are. A good tip is 25% and up at most restaurants, a fine tip is 20%, a decent tip is 15%, a lousy is 10% or below. Also, round up when you tip, if your meal was $9.30, don't rip out your calculator to figure out 18% of that figure (18% is such a weird number too, who does that?!) - just give the kid $3 - consider it an investment in the betterment of mankind.

Sent by Mike1 | 1:56 PM ET | 11-09-2007

This has become a "he said/she said" issue as to whether a tip was left or not. The waitress in the interview also mentioned that the entire meal was comp'd by the manager but that does not appear to be correct.

Sent by John Inpdep | 2:10 PM ET | 11-09-2007

most likely they did leave a tip, and something happened between the tip being left and Esterday getting a portion of that tip. I'm sure a big campaign like that would make sure to leave a proper tip. though it does bring to light the main purpose behind tips: you only get one if you deserve one. I'm not saying Esterday didn't deserve a tip, but what does it say about Esterday if she's not embarrassed to go around whining about not getting a tip?

Sent by Nate | 2:10 PM ET | 11-09-2007

I wonder if the last poster has ever worked for tips? Complaining about being stiffed is not whining, it is called speaking up. I wonder if you are the kind of person who leaves a dollar under a turned over glass of water and then giggles when you retell the story to your friends?

Sent by ADK | 3:46 PM ET | 11-09-2007

Contrary to what Mr. Inpdep posted, this is NOT a "he said/she said" story. NPR ITSELF posted a correction stating that the Clinton campaign did, IN FACT, leave a tip (a rather large one).

In response to Ms. Esterday's comment about "better things in this world to be thinking about," I have to say that, sadly, there are some news-media people who seem to think there ISN'T any better thing to think about than how to play gotcha with Hillary Clinton. Chris Mattews and Tim Russert come to mind, but apparenty Tom Regan belongs in the same crowd, as he still beats the drum for a story one day after NPR announced that it was incorrect.

Sent by Jim Simmons | 3:55 PM ET | 11-09-2007

How well someone tips was always a "first date test" for me because how people treat those they view to be less than their equal says a lot about them. I don't want to waste my time on someone who doesn't tip. It tells me that they either don't care or can't be bothered to care. Whether Ms. Clinton's campaign did or did not leave a tip does not seem newsorthy per se, but it does give me some insight I might not get otherwise. A lot of politicians give lip service to how they are going to help me but I don't think most of them have a clue about what it takes to raise a child on $12.00/hour. I welcome that extra insight anywhere I can find it.

Sent by Anne | 4:04 PM ET | 11-09-2007

How can you NOT check facts?
To let someone say they didn't pay for their meal and they didn't tip - making Hillary look really bad to those of us who care about such things -it's just really really shoddy journalism.

Sent by pam | 4:05 PM ET | 11-09-2007

David Greene's gotcha "journalism" is embarrassing.

Sent by Sean Gillies | 4:25 PM ET | 11-09-2007

Tipping helped me to form an opinion about a candidate. This future governor was already nationally know before he entered politics and had a radio show that started to broadcast from a restaurant that I worked in. He and his entourage took up a lot of space and the waiters had to rearrange an entire dining room before and after his show. Management allowed them to order whatever they wanted and they never saw a bill, so naturally the waiters were never tipped by any of his group. The reason the whole front of house hated lunch on Friday wasn't just the lost money, he didn't treat those waiters like human beings. They never got a thanks or a dollar, he didn't get their votes.

Sent by MGW | 5:01 PM ET | 11-09-2007

I have been a Clinton supporter and planned to vote for her, but after hearing this story it reminds me of how the "big shots" of the world don't really give a crap about the muckety mucks that do the work in this country. They only care when it's campaign time, or when people lower than them can be of some use.

Sent by HJ | 5:08 PM ET | 11-09-2007

Whining about not getting a tip. Are you serious? I bet Nate would be whining if he didn't get a paid for his work. It doesn't sound like the tip was deliberately withheld. Most likely it was a mistake.

Sent by Kitty | 5:10 PM ET | 11-09-2007

I have never yelled at my radio before, but I did this morning. This story has
absolutely no relevance to anything that
matters. Our nation and world face many
serious problems that NPR should be covering. It's ridiculous to spend time
on anything so trivial. Please don't let NPR become yet another "tabloid". There's plenty of those already

Sent by MC | 5:31 PM ET | 11-09-2007

Boy I miss Italian news instead of this ridiculous stuff.

Sent by Misirlou | 6:22 PM ET | 11-09-2007

I second Ryan's yawn.

Sent by John R. Otten | 7:32 PM ET | 11-09-2007

Are you serious? I cannot believe that so much as one journalistic inch or moment would be devoted to this inane issue. Whether Hillary and Company tipped sufficiently on this one occasion is so trivial as to insult the listeners who heard this commentary for a brief few seconds before changing the channel to anything else, including but not limited to WWF audio.
We have Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur, dropouts, education, hunger, Aids, and a myriad of issues that can legitimately call on our attention. This was not one of them. Shame on NPR. It wasn't actually a slow news day, which might have been an excuse, it was merely an expedient news day.

Sent by Barbara Castleton | 7:59 PM ET | 11-09-2007

I do not think this issue is irrelevant or trivial! It is most appropriate to a presidential campaign in which a desireable candidate has qualities like honor, generousity, respect, and character. Do any of our president candidates have any of these qualities? And how would one know except by examining such things as thier behavior in public places such as restaurants?

Sent by Dawn Coffin | 6:24 AM ET | 11-11-2007

This gaff, if a gaff over the reporting of the Clinton campaign's tipping in Iowa it was, is an actionable offense if the fault is on the part of the NPR reporter, who felt it unnecessary to check with the campaign, or his editor, who abdicated her responsibility by not holding up the story until the campaign was contacted. Someone's head needs to roll here. Campaign worker or NPR. It's a devastating story if true, a hanging offense if it isn't.

Shame on somebody.

Sent by Peter Tatiner | 10:58 AM ET | 11-11-2007

I have a tip for NPR: Stick to real issues and leave the gotcha journalism to others. You even screwed up the correction on Weekend Edition.

Sent by J.B. | 11:27 AM ET | 11-19-2007

I am embarassed for the arrogance of the reader/listeners who think that relative consciousness RE: tipping is a non-issue. Clearly, you have never been connected to a restaurant worker.

In politics, sad to say, 50% is symbolism, so all actions are amplified 100-fold. I agree with Peter Tatiner. I went online tonight to email NPR for the very first time because I never heard any final follow-up to the allegations and the tepid Clinton campaign response, and ended up here.

For me, who is still wildly undecided between Clinton, Obama and Edwards due to a wide variety of criteria... this "tip-gate" is NOT an non-issue but a deal-breaker. As someone said above, IF the campaign did NOT leave a tip, I would surely NOT vote for Clinton (and end up voting for Edwards, even though I surely prefer Obama, even more Kucinich), due to:

1) oganizational incompetence (just a very stupid thing to do and what else could they mess up?), or

2) her supposed working-class consciousness is just so phony and I couldn't stand the hypocrisy, or

3) if there has been a "cover-up" by the campaign, well that is even more horrible.

So I believe the fact that there is still ANY sort of doubt means that David Greene and NPR are morally (besides jounalistically) accountable to truly clarify the story and have it publicized widely. Thank you

Sent by Andrea Ekman Doremus Cuetara | 11:35 PM ET | 11-30-2007