The Democrats officially have their nominee and she has accepted the invitation to run for president. Hurrah! Considering the number of controversial news items surrounding her (to say the least) we should expect the journalism squad to be pumping caffeine through an IV to get through all the questions they must have for her and to document the answers. So when does that process begin?

Not any time soon. If you were waiting for Hillary Clinton to hold a press conference (instead of one of her scripted campaign appearances with human stage props) and answer the burning questions the public surely has, you may be waiting a while. She hasn’t held a single press conference this year and there are apparently no plans to do so in the immediate future. (WaPo)

When is Hillary Clinton going to hold that long-awaited news conference — the first of 2016? Whenever she feels like it.

This has always been true, of course. The media can’t force her into one. But the Democratic presidential nominee’s campaign hasn’t been quite so blunt about it.

Until now.

“We’ll have a press conference when we want to have a press conference,” Clinton pollster Joel Benenson said on ABC News on Thursday evening.

Okay then. This is the Clinton campaign flaunting its control, reminding the media who calls the shots.

Ouch. The year is already more than half over, there’s barely 100 days until the election and Clinton has yet to take questions. But at least they’re being crystal clear about their intentions.

Clinton campaign pollster Benenson to @ABC: "We'll have a press conference when we want to have a press conference" https://t.co/wxgn057ehx

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 28, 2016

By way of contrast, I’ve lost track of how many pressers Donald Trump has had. Some of his supporters (and I’ve no doubt more than a few of his staff) have probably had days when they wished that he’d stop talking to the press. But The Donald can’t help himself. He thrives on the attention and no subject is off limits, frequently to the chagrin of his team. This may provide plenty of fodder for the liberal media attack squad, but it still stands in fairly attractive contrast to the Fortress of Silence and Solitude surrounding Hillary Clinton. After all, you wouldn’t want to get caught on camera in an awkward moment when some uppity journalist asks you about all those emails and the many statements you made which were proven to be absolute lies by James Comey.

Over in Turkey, President Erdogan solves his public image issues by simply locking up the press and shutting down news outlets. Hillary Clinton can’t quite get away with that, but she can refuse to talk to them. The end result isn’t exactly the same since the reporters are free to speculate why she’s so shy about answering questions, but it’s not all that different either. Still, this condition can’t last forever. The one thing even Clinton can’t escape is the debates, and there will be questions asked there. Many, many questions. And when that happens it’s going to be a hot time in the old town for sure.