On the April 13 edition of MSNBC's The Most, anchor Alison Stewart called attention to an image (which has since been removed) posted on the front page of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) presidential campaign website -- accompanied by the caption “Respect for Rutgers.” The photo, of several members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team, linked to a form where visitors can "[s]end a Message of Respect to the Scarlet Knights" in the wake of controversial comments by Don Imus. Stewart “admit[ted]” that the “website kind of caught me off-guard,” and she went on to ask her guest, washingtonpost.com national political reporter and blogger Mary Ann Akers, “I'm wondering: Is there a danger here of co-opting this issue ... for political purposes?” Akers replied: "[I]t does a look a bit opportunistic to put a huge picture up and ask people to email in their letters," adding, “Of course, that does give the Clinton campaign the opportunity to cultivate email addresses for the purposes of fundraising,” unless the user “check[s] this box.” In fact, as Akers herself had noted a day earlier on her washingtonpost.com weblog, The Sleuth, the checkbox on the “Respect for Rutgers” page is to opt-in to receiving campaign updates, not to opt-out as Akers asserted on The Most.

Similarly, on the same day's edition of MSNBC News Live, freelance anchor Mika Brzezinski brought up the “pictures of the Rutgers basketball team” on Clinton's website and asked: “Is this kind of an obvious case of glomming onto the issue of the day?” Moments later, Brzezinski acknowledged that Clinton was in a “sort of darned if you do, darned if you don't,” situation, but then added: “It just seems a little politically predictable.” Republican strategist and MSNBC analyst Rev. Joe Watkins agreed, saying, “I think it's obvious that ... she really is grabbing ahold of this issue.”

In her April 12 post on The Sleuth, Akers wrote that it would appear that users' " 'send[ing] a message' to the Rutgers players ... means giving their e-mail addresses to the Clinton campaign." But, she added, “not so fast, Hillary bashers. Visitors to the Clinton site who choose to send a 'message of respect' to the Rutgers players have to agree to receive e-mail updates and solicitations from the Clinton campaign.” Indeed, as the screenshot below, taken from the “Respect for Rutgers” Clinton campaign page, shows, the check box instructs visitors to “Click here to receive email updates from Hillary for President”:

As Time.com Washington editor Ana Marie Cox noted on Time's political weblog, Swampland, Akers previously made a similar distortion regarding the presidential campaign website of former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) soon after his wife, Elizabeth Edwards, announced that her cancer had recurred. In an April 4 post on The Sleuth, Akers asserted: “When you visit the John Edwards for President Web site, you're invited to send a sympathy note to the Edwardses. ... What those well wishers get in return -- e-mail messages soliciting contributions to Edwards's campaign." However, in an update to her original post, Cox noted that the form -- which Akers claimed was to “send a sympathy note” -- was simply a form to "Send a Note to John and Elizabeth" that had been on the website prior to the Edwardses' announcement of Elizabeth's illness and was normally accompanied by news about the campaign:

Mary Ann's story -- and my post -- both leave the impression that it's a specific get well note that lured people in. It isn't. It's true that the current “message” from John and Elizabeth on the website is about her illness, so I imagine that many of the notes they got were about that news, but it's not as though the campaign was specifically asking for get-well wishes and then (intentionally or not) asking sympathizers for money.

During the segment, Stewart also suggested there was a “danger” that Clinton was “co-opting” the Imus controversy “for political purposes,” but she did not note that Clinton has been a frequent target of Imus' smears. On the March 6 edition of Imus, executive producer Bernard McGuirk suggested that Clinton would pander to African-Americans by wearing “cornrows and gold teeth.” Additionally, less than a year ago, Imus referred to Clinton as “Satan” 11 times, once calling her “that buck-tooth witch, Satan.” Clinton herself noted on April 10: “I certainly understand the outrage at those remarks, those young woman [sic] did not deserve those hateful and hurtful comments. ... You know I've been on the receiving end of a lot of his barbs.”

From the April 13 edition of MSNBC's The Most:

STEWART: And Monday, the talk will no doubt be about Senator Hillary Clinton. The Democratic front-runner heads to the Rutgers campus to speak at the university's political school. She's expected to address the Imus controversy and the Rutgers women's basketball team in her remarks -- and she's just one of the many 2008 contenders to address the muzzled morning mouthpiece. Imus' radio show drew political moths to a media flame. Now, will those politicos who weighed in on the Imus story have to face questions about race in the bigger picture? Mary Ann Akers is a national political reporter for the washingtonpost.com and writes the blog “The Sleuth.”

Now, Mary Ann, Hillary Clinton's website declares in the biggest, boldest way: “Respect for Rutgers.” There's a picture of the young women up there. I'm wondering: Is there a danger here of co-opting this issue -- take a look at this website -- for political purposes? You know, she may really have good intentions, but the website kind of caught me off-guard, I have to admit.

AKERS: Well, you know, it -- on the one hand, Allison, if she hadn't come out in defense of the Rutgers players, she might actually be criticized because she is the only woman in the race, so she really has to do this. And I think that, politically, it's a smart move for her.

Yes, I think that you point out something that others have that it does a look a bit opportunistic to put a huge picture up and ask people to email in their letters of support to the Rutgers players. Of course, that does give the Clinton campaign the opportunity to cultivate email addresses for the purposes of fundraising, although they clearly state on there that you can check this box if you do not wish to receive emails from the Clinton campaign.

From the 3 p.m. ET hour of the April 13 edition of MSNBC News Live:

BRZEZINSKI: Hillary Clinton's website now has pictures of the Rutgers basketball team on the front page. Is this kind of an obvious case of glomming onto the issue of the day? What do you think?

RICHARD GOODSTEIN (Democratic strategist): Well, she'd had an invitation from Rutgers to speak there for several months.

BRZEZINSKI: OK, fair enough.

GOODSTEIN: She's chosen obviously in light of what's happened over the past few days to accept and to speak about race and, frankly, and women in this country -- something that I think she's uniquely qualified to speak to. Obviously, she's been involved in gender issues her whole life, and remember, when she worked for the Children's Defense Fund, a lot of those issues sort of revolved around, you know, raising the standard of living for minority children, so these are not new issues for her. And I think there's frankly a lot of sympathy around the country for the Rutgers team.

BRZEZINSKI: They're not new issues. They're not new issues. That's fair, and also, in sort of darned if you do, darned if you don't: If you don't speak out about, it's thinking “Why is she silent?” so I can understand. It just seems a little politically predictable.

WATKINS: Like she's hugging the -- she's grabbing for dear life onto the issue of the Rutgers women?

BREZINSKI: Well, I didn't say it!

WATKINS: Well, I think it's obvious that she's -- she really is grabbing ahold of this issue. And it is kind of a two-edged sword: on the one hand, she has to deal with it because, after all, she's a candidate for the presidency of the United States, for the Democratic nomination, and she happens to be a woman. And so, who better to speak to this kind of demeaning stuff to women than somebody like Hillary Rodham Clinton. At the same time, of course, she's taking full advantage, as I'm sure any politician who's smart would of a situation to speak and to, of course, be on the right side of the issue, so I'm sure she's happy to have this opportunity.