There's a crescendo of whining from the Beltway press corps over Hillary Clinton not taking their questions. It has been
21 days, they urgently want readers to know, since Clinton took one of their questions. And yes, she's been very clear that this early stage of the campaign is about talking to voters at smaller events, and yes, she has answered questions from voters all along. But, you guys!
Some of those voters were chosen by the campaign. And anyway, they're not reporters.
Just as he can always be counted on to encapsulate the most dumbed-down conventional wisdom of the political media, Chris Cillizza encapsulates the argument:
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.
Dude. Have you been paying attention to the working press? The political wing of it, at least, of which you, Chris Cillizza, are a part, is so fiercely committed to useless scandal,
so "primed to take down Hillary Clinton," in the words of one Politico reporter, that questions from audience members are arguably better than equivalent to questions from the working press. Unless of course you
want to base everything on
Peter Schweizer's allegations.
This is where reporters say "But but but! Republicans are making Clinton's avoidance of press questions a campaign issue." At which point they name Carly Fiorina as an example, and we all laugh heartily and point out that Carly Fiorina's entire campaign is based on attacking Hillary Clinton at all times, and that Fiorina's polling high point is in New Hampshire, where she's at 3.5 percent.