Is Obama Using Plants Now?

(Cross-posted at Uncommon Misconceptions)

From the campaign trail, we hear this heart-wrenching tale:

An Iowa voter who at first was teased by Democrat Barack Obama ended up in a tearful embrace with the Illinois senator and presidential candidate during a campaign stop Wednesday.

Retired Air Force veteran Andrew Hampton grew emotional when he rose to ask Obama what he would do to ensure that others leaving the military get the health benefits they were promised.
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He said he was especially worried about the veterans currently returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with terrible injuries, and left to the whims of a Congress that “plays hollow politics” by deciding how much health care they receive.

“We can’t desert them,” Hampton wept as he told Obama. The crowd responded with a standing ovation, and Obama walked over and hugged him.

Very emotional, very teary, but many of the news articles gloss over or don't even mention the fact that this was a campaign stop for potential caucus attendees, i.e., hard-core DNC members, not simply concerned citizens, or "Iowa voters." And as has become commonplace in this campaign, a quick Google search reveals that this is no garden variety veteran. He is a DNC activist who has made a hobby of following candidates in Iowa and taking their picture.

In fact, his local rag ran an article on him just 3 weeks ago:

Andrew “Bill” Hampton chronicles the race for the Democratic nomination for president through the lens of a camera.The Mason City man started taking pictures of Democratic presidential candidates during Iowa campaign stops, especially those in North Iowa, before the 2004 presidential campaign.

The retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel has always been a photography and political junkie.
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When asked who he will support at the January Democratic caucus, Hampton stops for a moment, then jokes that he plans to caucus for Obama, Edwards and Joe Biden.

“However, when push comes to shove, I’ll have to make a decision that day.”

It looks like he didn't have to wait until January, after all. But now look at the mindset of the man who just created this exceptional photo-op for Obama, as he talks about taking photos of political figures:

“I’m trying to get the impact of the person. The personality can come through on some photos. I am freezing an experience in a moment.”

"A photograph can communicate the essence of a person, “their sense of commitment, firmness, devotion to changing life for the better.”

Here is a man who clearly understands and works in political photography, who understands the power of the right photograph, and who also routinely supplies photographs to political candidates. Is he a plant? Was it all a set up?

Probably not.

But once again, we have a seemingly spontaneous situation involving what is presented as a typical voter, and we find that while it may have been spontaneous, this gentleman is nothing like a typical voter. For me, that casts doubt on the entire incident.