The Fix: Hillary Clinton: Risk-Avoider in Chief
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There's a big difference between happening upon a candidate at a shopping center and planning to sit down with her and ask her questions. That Clinton has largely avoided the press during this first week of her campaign is generally understood, leaving reporters to scramble to try and talk to her. But that she's not engaging with many prepared, thoughtful voters -- or many voters at all, for that matter -- is another thing entirely.
During the run-up to her inevitable campaign, we looked at her play-it-safe strategy: Speeches before some groups, vetted Q-and-As with others. When Clinton sat down with the press, she often made news inadvertently, like the "dead broke" comments from last summer. Even her book tour offered a list of guidelines for those seeking signatures.
The campaign was supposed to be different. Or, at least, it seemed as though it was supposed to be different. "There was more of an illusion of give-and-take than the real thing," reported the Los Angeles Times' Seema Mehta. "Clinton had implied a more freewheeling approach, and the question that lingered after she left was whether her carefully choreographed visit had improved views of her."
Update: Business Insider reports that even for a small gathering of a few local leaders, "[t]here were warnings about leaks, drives to undisclosed locations, and a campaign staffer who confiscated the guests' cellphones ahead of the sitdown." (Emphasis added.)
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/04/17/hillary-clinton-the-one-candidate-who-could-take-some-risks-wont/
