WARNING ABOUT CLICKING THE LINKS - I'm getting virus advisories on POLITICO which I don't usually see...

My, my, my - SuperPAC money can go a looooong way in assisting with public relations strategy.

For all of you who just can't get enough of madam-president-in-waiting (and who won't shut your pie holes about the dearth of damn press conferences!), we bring you Madam Hillary, a trustworthy grandmother, gal about town - in short, someone you'd like to drink sweet tea with. And like a modern day fireside chat, now you can fire up your Android or iPod, pour yourself a refreshing beverage, and take in all the Clinton delight you can stomach:

Hillary Clinton finds another way to avoid the press

One of Hillary Clinton’s first sitdown interviews since the Democratic National Convention was conducted by a self-described supporter who has been hired by the campaign to host the Democratic nominee’s official campaign podcast.

“With Her,” which launched on iTunes Friday morning, promises an inside account “straight from Hillary [of] what life is like on the campaign trail.” The series is being produced by the campaign and hosted by Max Linsky, a founding editor of Longform.org and a co-host of the well-respected Longform podcast. The debut episode features Linsky’s 15-minute interview with the nominee.

The result is a casual conversation that steers clear of politics -- and it's the latest example of how Clinton is trying to control her storyline. She has been criticized for limiting press access by not participating in press conferences and being slow to grant reporters the level of access that has become common and expected of candidates vying for the Oval Office.

Feel free to call her whatever you like.
Trump doesn't get mentioned.
Learn what ring tone she uses for an alarm clock.
She Facetimes with that brand new grandchild.

The new podcast is not the only way the campaign is trying to tell its own story by seeming to attempt an end-run around the reporters who cover it.

For months, the campaign has been relying on its in-house videographer, Julie Zuckerbrod, to film closed-to-the-press meetings and personal moments Clinton and other top campaign officials share with supporters and staff. The most flattering moments are often turned into slick web videos and ads released by the campaign, rather than reported on by the press.

The podcaster is a fan, and he says that right up front. He acknowledges it's not journalism.

A campaign official said that the podcast “will come out periodically to show the unexpected and excited nature of campaign life. It will highlight Hillary Clinton and her campaign staff’s experiences and stories from the campaign trail.” The campaign did not respond to requests for comment about whether that would come in lieu of interviews with independent news outlets.

Nevermind the article below:

Clinton’s press problem

First the Clinton press conferences and gaggles became rare. Now, the Trump campaign’s foot-dragging in allowing a basic press pool – a group of reporters that share travel duty to cover public events and minimize the logistics burden on the campaign – has given Clinton cover to not institute a protective pool, which would cover the candidate’s every move and ride on the campaign plane in the same way the White House press pool does and which typically begins when the candidates becomes the party’s official nominee.

One reporter covering the campaign said Clinton campaign officials directly cited Trump’s lack of a formal pool operation as part of the reason they have yet to set up a protective pool. Other reporters covering the Democratic nominee describe the situation as frustrating and “unlike anything in the past."

Snip

The Clinton campaign has more regularly organized press buses and planes, and reporters have now issued hundreds of pool reports.

These buses and planes, however, are not the same as a protective pool that travels on the same plane as the candidate, gets more face time with senior staff, and is often let in for photo sprays in private events, such as fundraisers.