I don’t know who is giving Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton press advice, telling her not to hold a press conference, but I would give her very different guidance.
Clinton would do extremely well at a press conference. I first saw how she related to a talk-show audience way back in 1993 as the White House and then-first lady Clinton was trying to get her version of health care passed. Although she did not take questions from the hosts then, she outlined the health-care program she developed and championed in detail. She was warm and friendly. About a week later, she showed great levity when answering then-Sen. Dick Armey’s questions. The Los Angeles Times reported it back then:
“Rep. Dick Armey (R-Texas), third-ranking House GOP leader and one of its most confrontational members, had suggested earlier that the health care plan amounted to economic euthanasia. He called it ‘a Dr. Kevorkian prescription for the jobs of American working men and women’ – a reference to the Michigan doctor who has helped more than a dozen terminally ill people commit suicide.
“In questioning Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, Armey again criticized the plan, adding that he planned ‘to make the debate, the legislative process as exciting as possible.’ ‘I’m sure you will do that, Mr. Armey – you and Dr. Kevorkian,’ the first lady shot back.”
There is no reason why Secretary Clinton can’t handle the press in a press conference. She is certainly more experienced than Donald Trump in handling the press’ tough questions. In not having a press conference, she is just giving the Trump campaign a great deal of free press.
Back in 2000, Vice President Al Gore did not have a press conference. The Republican National Committee had a field day with the Gore campaign. My friend, Mark Pfeifle, who was the brilliant idea guy at the Republican National Committee, told me, “In 2000, we let voters know every day that Mr. Gore was avoiding talking to the media at open press conferences. Mr. Gore refused to talk about his Buddhist temple fundraiser, his claim to inventing the Internet and other outright fabrications.” (When he was senator, Gore did, in fact, promote the legislation that got the Internet going.)
Mark Pfeifle continued, “Daily, we sent an email to every national and local anchor, host, reporter and editor, featuring one of their colleagues stuck in stocks, demanding an Al Gore press conference.
“Reporters joined our effort. Media sent us their camera-ready photos, asking us to include them in a future update. Our genius campaign drove Mr. Gore’s team so crazy that they eventually cracked,” he said.
Back in the mid-1980s, missing children’s photos also appeared on milk cartons. The Republican National Committee took advantage of that and, when Vice President Al Gore did not have a press conference, they put his image on a milk carton. Back then, it garnered a lot of attention.
Then the first lady’s first real press conference took place on April 22, 1994. I was there!
It is now known as the “Pink Press Conference” because then-first lady Hillary Clinton – or Hillary Rodham Clinton, as she preferred to be called – was dressed in pink. Time Magazine described it: “What happened was a riveting hour and 12 minutes in which the first lady appeared to be open, candid, but above all unflappable. While she provided little new information on the tangled Arkansas land deal or her controversial commodity trades, the real message was her attitude and her poise. The confiding tone and relaxed body language, which was seen live on four networks, immediately drew approving reviews.”
The above review of the press conference was before President Bill Clinton’s second term, before there was a Sen. Hillary Clinton, before there was a 2008 presidential primary candidate and before there was a Secretary Hillary Clinton. What we can conclude is that she did a great job prior to her increased political experience.
Donald Trump is making hay of Clinton’s decision not to do a press conference. He sends out questions to the press daily with the number of days that Clinton has not met with the press. Her reluctance to have a press conference – despite the fact that she and her spokespeople have said she has completed more than 300 interviews – is not a smart move. Donald Trump is getting plenty of free media out of it.
Why shouldn’t Clinton have a press conference? She is great at answering media questions. She has relationships with much of the press, who would be at the press event. Giving Donald Trump a free target is not a smart move, especially since she has been handling the press so effectively for more than 22 years.
Media wishing to interview Ellen Ratner, please contact [email protected].
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