"There will be NO opportunities to interview Hillary Clinton; her speech will be her interview."

[DFW]

211. Sure it is.

Howard Dean arranges to have breakfast with me whenever we are in the same city at the same time because we got to be friends when he was Howard Who? If I suddenly wrote to him now and asked as an unknown, I doubt he would have the time. Old friendships matter, even with famous politicians. Thom's friendship with Bernie matters, as does the fact that the two of them see eye to eye on most major issues.

I quite agree that Thom would be elated to have Hillary on his show. I do not know if Hillary thinks his audience is wide enough to warrant (in her eyes) taking the time to do it. She may not even know who he is. I have seen her in unrehearsed situations, and she did fine. She took a question from none other than Frank Luntz one time I was there, and she got him to literally get down on one knee at her answer. Luntz knows he's offering bullshit, and while the Foxsuckers might be blind to it, Hillary saw him coming a mile away, and he knew it.

If she feels Thom Hartmann, as a good friend and long-time admirer of Bernie Sanders, might be hostile, she would probably refuse before Bernie might refuse a situation he feels would be hostile. She has a huge lead to blow and Bernie has nothing to lose. They are starting from completely different positions. Both have a gift for charming hostile audiences and interviewers, and at their ages and positions, don't really fear much. I don't know Hillary well, and I don't know Bernie at all, but I'd bet they harbor a LOT less hostility for each other than their supporters on DU do for each other. Howard vouches for Bernie, even though he's supporting Hillary, and if Howard says Bernie's a good man, then that's all I need to know.