Keller @ Large: Hillary Clinton Continues To Squander Opportunities
BOSTON (CBS) - Hillary Clinton came to Boston Wednesday night for a fundraiser, and if she had set aside a few minutes to talk to the media, she could have saturated voters in New Hampshire - a crucial swing state come November - with her message.
But when we called to check with her campaign Wednesday, we were told there would be no press conference. In fact, Clinton hasn't held a media availability since January.
How foolish is that? Just look at the results.
Clinton has struggled to defeat Bernie Sanders, an undistinguished senator with positions well outside the political mainstream, primarily because he is widely seen as authentic and trustworthy by voters and she is not.
How can that be?
Clinton complains that her negatives have been driven sky-high by more than 30 years of political attacks and negative press coverage. But while some of those attacks have been garbage, much of it has been based on her own calculated, duplicitous behavior - the dubious financial structure of the Clinton Foundation, for instance, or her handling of the Benghazi fiasco.
And notice how Donald Trump, with higher negatives and equal disdain for the press, turns their attention to his advantage by using the media to carry his message to a vast audience.
Clinton could do the same, and will have to start doing so if she hopes to keep pace with Trump's daily barrage of attacks and exploit his blunders. But so far, it's the same old Hillary, squandering opportunities like Wednesday night to shore up her shaky connection with key voters.
The people she needs to talk to weren't at that fundraiser. Hillary Clinton should know that. But it's not clear she does.