Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post
Hmm, let's see...
The email thing? That fizzled when it turned out that Hillary did nothing wrong and no one cared about it anyway.
The Clinton Foundation thing? That also collapsed when the book was debunked and no one cared about it either.
Any recent Chipotle runs? No?
Perhaps it's time for some detailed reporting and analysis of her new policy ideas? Hah! As if!
Okay, looks like the press is down to "Why won't she talk to us?!"
And of course, Chris Cillizza is on it.
The Clinton campaign's response to all of this? Blah. Reporters whining – like they always do. And, as every Clinton staffer is quick to note, she has answered questions from lots of regular people during her first month as a candidate – holding roundtables in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. They are also quick to note that she makes opening statements at these roundtables.
She's taking questions from voters! She's talking about policy! You guys just don't like it because she's not falling all over herself to jump through your hoops!
So, for roughly the billionth time, let me make two points in response to that way of thinking.
1. Making policy statements/opening statements does not remove the need to answer actual questions from reporters.
2. While answering questions from hand-picked audience members is not without value, no one could possibly think it is the equivalent of answering questions from the working press.
Cillizza's paper now even has a handy clock
counting the seconds since she last answered a question from a reporter (which, unsurprisingly, was about that stupid
Clinton Cash book).
I hate to break it to all of you and ruin the latest anti-Clinton narrative, but she will talk to you again. Really! And probably pretty soon. For Pete's sake, you're acting like a dog who isn't sure if her owner will ever return from the grocery store. Plus, don't you remember the big crazy party you had with her at the UN just a couple of months ago?
Good grief.
Despite the press being
"primed to take down Hillary", her campaign has been running circles around them since before it even started, with none of their phony scandals taking hold. And if
this truly becomes the big Hillary story for the next couple of weeks, it will only do one thing: build up a ton of anticipation for her eventual interviews, which she will be quite prepared for and most likely totally nail. So please proceed!
Thinking long-term, imagine an undecided voter seventeen months from now weighing his options: "Hillary is such a well-qualified candidate and I agree with her on most issues...but then again, remember those few weeks after her campaign started when she was busy talking to voters in early states while forming her platform and didn't talk to the press very much? Hmm."
Whatever.
Originally posted at Hillary HQ