A candidate unfazed when under seige

Ruby Cramer ?@rubycramer 4h4 hours ago
Your guide to the *weirdest* yet most totally normal day on the plane w/Clinton—a candidate unfazed when under seige



Hillary poses for photos after the Cedar Rapids event. Jewel Samad / AFP / Getty Images

24 Totally Normal Hours On The Trail With Hillary Clinton
The FBI, Anthony Weiner, Iowa, and big smiles: The weirdest and yet most normal day for a campaign and candidate almost bizarrely unfazed by crisis.

Saturday, 12:13 p.m., White Plains, N.Y. Saturday on the trail begins like any other for Hillary Clinton. She steps onto the tarmac. She smiles. She waves. It’s as if the events of the prior 24 hours, unfolding in dramatic and at points surreal turns, have either never occurred or are simply of no ultimate consequence to the candidate.

This, from the outside at least, is the Clinton campaign under siege. She and her aides, by now, after a long 18 months, are somewhat at home when in crisis. (“Happy warrior” is how a Clinton official described the candidate’s state of mind on Saturday morning here in Westchester.)

Though little is still known about the new investigation from FBI director James Comey, made public in a letter to Republican members of Congress, the probe will undoubtedly affect Clinton’s standing in the race, with another round of email headlines landing on the front page of nearly every battleground state paper.

But on Friday, as news of the inquiry hit the presidential race just 11 days before election time — while the press scrambled for information with few details and without inflight internet, while Donald Trump assailed the latest “criminal scheme” — Clinton held her smile, and the day proceeded as planned. There were two rallies in Iowa. (“I am so excited and happy to be back here!”) There were special guests. (Celebrity DJ Samantha Ronson. Star photographer Annie Leibovitz. Childhood friend Betsy Ebeling.) And there was no mention of the FBI inquiry until the day was done...

read reporter's notebook for the day: https://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/24-totally-normal-hours-on-the-trail-with-hillary-clinton?utm_term=.mgG9ZAK1rZ#.ae21a5DXna