Clinton speaks briefly with press on her new plane

CLEVELAND — Hillary Clinton’s long national standoff with the press is over.

On the maiden voyage of the general election plane Clinton will share with her press corps for the next two months — a Boeing 737 emblazoned with the campaign’s “H” logo on its wing tips and tail in a scion blue evocative of Air Force One — Clinton greeted the group of close to 40 journalists traveling with her.


“I was just waiting for this moment,” Clinton exclaimed as she walked to the back of the plane, positioning herself in the doorway separating the press from the Secret Service and the staff sections of the plane.

“I’m thrilled,” she said, holding a rolled up sheaf of papers in her hand. "No, really! I wanted to welcome you onto the plane. I think it’s pretty cool, don’t you?”

A hesitant press corps, out of practice with casual interactions with the Democratic nominee, paused before responding. “You’re supposed to say yes,” she said.

Clinton planned to hold a more official gaggle and answer questions aboard the plane later in the day, she said. But to relieve some of the mounting tension with the press that she has studiously avoided for the past month as she has focused on raising money at high-dollar fundraisers, she came to say a simple hello.

“We had a good time,” she said of her abbreviated Labor Day weekend, when she had no public events. “The last moment of — ” she exhaled, “before the mad dash of the next two months. I hope you guys are ready. I’m more than ready.”

Clinton was scheduled to participate in a traditional Labor Day rally in an African-American neighborhood in the East side of Cleveland, Ohio, with her running mate Tim Kaine. The two have not campaigned together since their post-convention bus tour through Pennsylvania and Ohio. Later, she was scheduled to fly to the Quad Cities, before returning to Chappaqua for the night.

When asked if she had a Labor Day message, she said: “Oh, I do. you’ll hear it. I definitely do. If you want more happy Labor Days, you’ll know who to vote for.”



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Hillary Clinton