• by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, August 31, 2016

Hillary Clinton isn’t doing herself any favors spending the majority of the past year without holding a single press conference — or is she?

The 269 days since Clinton’s last press conference has enabled another line of attack available to the Republicans. Pro-Trump Breitbart News has coined #HidingHillary and continues to harp on unfounded questions about her health as a reason for the absence of open press conferences.

There is no question that Clinton is a flawed candidate, but her goal is to win in November. A press conference is not likely to shed any productive light on the issues dogging her campaign in an age of gotcha journalism and four-second news cycles.

As CUNY Journalism School professor, and a former educator of this writer, Jeff Jarvis wrote in a tweet back on August 21: “Imagine the shitshow that a Clinton presser would be w/journos falling over themselves to show how tough they can be. Blame her for passing?”

Conversely, Trump is a candidate who thrives and excites his base in heated situations, for better or for worse. Clinton would not thrive in such an atmosphere. Indeed, most of the poison Trump spews would be a career breaker for the majority of politicians.

We’ve seen Hillary Clinton struggle to provide simple answers to complex questions. She sometimes stumbles with simple ones.

Secretary Clinton is thoughtful, well-informed and understands that politics is more than a headline, off-the-cuff quote or a stream of tweets.

While Clinton and Tim Kaine’s 50+ private big-dollar fundraisers in August won’t convert voters already averse to her, those aren’t the voters she needs in order to win in November.

When it comes to making public appearances and giving campaign speeches, Clinton campaign staffers have got it right. That's unlike her opponent, who is forced to walk back comments on a regular basis.

Clinton will continue to make coherent and politically powerful speeches, as she did last week connecting Donald Trump to the alt-right, while giving “sensible” or less publicly abhorrent Republicans an escape from the Trump trap.

These appeals to reasonable Republicans will help stem turnout for Trump, while further highlighting the many reasons a strong majority of women and minority voters will enthusiastically vote against him.

Clinton’s reluctance to open herself up to the press may set a troubling precedent for when she occupies the Oval Office. Still, she will face tough questions at the debates coming next month.

My guess is she’ll be ready.