A November 18 article by reporter Jeff Zeleny in The New York Times reporting that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) presidential campaign “has nearly doubled the size of her staff in Iowa and has substantially increased her advertising here” asserted: “The Clinton campaign's efforts to bolster its organization here come in the wake of a challenging period in the state; aides conceded to planting questions in Iowa audiences and struggled to explain whether a tip was left for a waitress who served Mrs. Clinton during a recent visit.” However, according to the Times' previous reporting, rather than “struggl[ing] to explain whether a tip was left,” the Clinton campaign said it had left a tip, and the restaurant manager confirmed that a tip had been left.

As Media Matters for America noted, a November 8 National Public Radio (NPR) report had claimed that the waitress, Anita Esterday, did not get a tip after Clinton and her staff ate at the Iowa restaurant where Esterday works. However, a November 8 Associated Press article reported that restaurant manager Brad Crawford said a tip was left, adding, “If something happened with the disbursement [of the tip], it's probably my fault.” The New York Times reported November 9: “After NPR broadcast the report, Mrs. Clinton's campaign responded by saying the candidate and her aides had in fact left a tip: $100 on a $157 check at the diner.” The Times also reported that Crawford “confirmed” that Clinton “and her retinue had indeed left a tip, though he did not say how much.”

As Media Matters noted, the Times' November 9 article quoted Esterday as saying, “You people are really nuts. ... 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.”

From the November 18 article in The New York Times:

The Clinton campaign's efforts to bolster its organization here come in the wake of a challenging period in the state; aides conceded to planting questions in Iowa audiences and struggled to explain whether a tip was left for a waitress who served Mrs. Clinton during a recent visit. Three weeks ago, Patti Solis Doyle, the national campaign manager, traveled here to appraise Mrs. Clinton's efforts. A strategy was devised to have the Clintons -- and many high-profile surrogates -- blanket the state in December.