Persuading the Press

Hillary Clinton is struggling in the polls. Her message is not resonating with voters to the degree that Senator Obama's message is. Hillary can only buy so much ad time to communicate with the voters. An extraordinarily valuable asset is the media. She must get the media to frame her story right. Consequently, for Hillary as for all candidates, the media plays one of the the most important roles in shaping how voters view her.

Should it come as any surprise then that Hillary is becoming desperate to persuade the media to like her, thereby hoping that she receives more positive press coverage. When I saw the following, I could only think that Hillary is trying to persuade the press and gain favor with them.

After seeing the photos below, ask yourself if you think Hillary believes in the principle of reciprocity.



AP Photo, with the following caption:

Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., passes out Valentine's day chocolates to the traveling press aboard her campaign plane as it sat on the tarmac at the Youngstown Airport in Vienna, Ohio, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008.

AP Photo, with caption:

Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., talk on the phone with a girlfriend of a member of the traveling press as she passed out Valentine's day chocolates aboard her campaign plane as it sat on the tarmac at the Youngstown Airport in Vienna, Ohio, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008.

Consider the following from CNN on Hillary's plan:

As her plane prepared for takeoff from Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, Clinton played stewardess, sauntering back to meet the press corps with a tray of chocolates and Valentine's Day wishes.

"I apologize to all of you who are not spending valentine's day with your significant others," she told them, as reporters each took chocolates and said, "Thank you, senator."

...

A TV producer, CBS' Fernando Suarez, handed Clinton his cell phone so she could help console his lonely girlfriend back in Washington.

"I am happy to be Fernando's second choice on Valentine's Day," Clinton told Suarez' girlfriend Michelle as reporters laughed out loud and pool photographers snapped away. For good measure, she also made nice with the girlfriend of Politico's Ken Vogel.

Clinton then walked back to first class, while the assembled reporters hustled back to their seats for takeoff.

Apparently, I was not the only one to have this thought. After looking around on the Internet, I noticed a story from the AP entitled Play of the Day: A Valentine's Treat.