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If Hillary Clinton decides not to run for president -- and yes, that is still possible -- her return to the media lion's den might be a factor in her thinking.

She's done a national book tour and the paid lecture circuit, but Clinton got an up-close look at today's frenzied political news environment last weekend when she visited Iowa for the first time in seven years, a spectacle primed for an avalanche of media coverage given her expected campaign and her tortured history with the Hawkeye State.

I joined more than 200 other reporters who swarmed the scene and tweeted away, even though most Americans on social media that day probably cared more about Robert Griffin's ankle.

The press scrum that assembled to witness noncandidates Hillary and Bill Clinton flip Hy-Vee steaks with Sen. Tom Harkin -- behind a barricade, of course -- was as large, if not larger, than the media hordes that covered her at the height of her 2008 campaign.

One reporter got whacked in the head with the butt of a big television camera. Another photographer dramatically toppled off his ladder while straining to get a shot. It was a little absurd. When the Clintons approached the media zoo for question time, Bill Clinton leaned in and relished the scene. Hillary kept her distance.

Political Twitter, though, wasn't just a stream of gauzy Instagram-filtered pics of the Clintons: It was also rife with media criticism, some fair and some not, from politicos and press critics who pointed to the event as another example of lazy "pack journalism" with little journalistic upside.

The sniping had some credibility. What was the competitive advantage of being there, just one more reporter among the herd, all of us racing around to get the same quotes and the same pictures?

This was especially true for the many journalists in attendance who rarely travel outside of Washington or New York to cover politics but decided to open up their travel budget for this one trip.

Couldn't their time have been better spent reporting on an undercovered Senate or governor's race in some other part of the country, far away from the rest of the media scrum? Of course, the academics would say. But the incentive structure of today's click-driven news economy begs to differ. Hillary gets eyeballs. Arkansas' Tom Cotton does not. This is the world we live in.

As much as I believe in straying far, far away from the rest of the media pack -- this was a lynchpin argument in "Did Twitter Kill The Boys on the Bus?," the Harvard Kennedy School study I wrote last year about the hyperactive political news media -- I did find value in covering the Steak Fry.

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Hillary Clinton's madcap media mob

Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton said Thursday that Congress is alarmingly detached from the lives of everyday Americans and encouraged people to turn policy ideas into political movements.

"The Congress, increasingly, despite the best efforts of my friends and others, is living in an evidence-free zone where what the reality is in the lives of Americans is so far from the minds of too many," said Clinton.

Progress on issues like the minimum wage and ensuring equal pay for women has been impeded by lawmakers who are disconnected from the struggles people are facing, she argued. The economic struggles everyday Americans deal with are "roiling beneath the surface of the political debates," said Clinton.

The former secretary of state of spoke at a panel discussion on women's economic security matters at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington. She was joined by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), among others.

Clinton said that addressing women's issues requires ensuring a policy debate plays out in the electoral discourse.

"When we can turn an issue into a political movement that demands people be responsive during the election season, it carries over," said Clinton. "So, these issues have to be in the lifeblood of this election or any election."

The panelists discussed the importance of paycheck fairness, full participation by women in the workforce, voting and investment in early childhood learning programs.

"Where women are left out," Clinton said, "their children suffer, their communities suffer."

Modern day workplace polices "are stuck in the Mad Men era," said Gillibrand.

DeLauro lauded Clinton's record fighting for women and appeared to allude to her consideration of a 2016 presidential campaign.

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Hillary Clinton: Congress living in an evidence-free zone

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Indianola, Iowa (CNN) -- "It's been seven years, and a lot has changed," Hillary Clinton said Sunday in her first visit to Iowa since the state dealt her presidential campaign a devastating body blow.

But there was a moment in the afternoon when it seemed like not much had.

Roughly 200 credentialed media were gathered in a far corner of the Indianola Balloon Field, the grassy expanse where Sen. Tom Harkin was convening his 37th and final Steak Fry, an annual fundraiser that doubles as a point of entry for ambitious Democrats curious about the Iowa caucuses.

After a 90-minute wait, the press scrum -- scribblers and photographers alike -- were herded like cattle through a series of gates and escorted up to a hot smoking grill, waiting to capture the same image: a staged shot of Bill and Hillary Clinton, fresh out of their motorcade, ritualistically flipping steaks with Harkin.

Hillary Clinton stumps for Iowa Democrats, and herself

The Clintons ignored the half-hearted shouted questions from reporters -- "Mr. President, do you eat meat?" -- with practiced ease. They were two football fields away from the nearest voter. Mechanical, distant, heavy-handed: The afternoon spectacle felt a lot like Hillary's 2008 caucus campaign, a succession of errors that crumbled under the weight of a feuding top-heavy staff and the candidate's inability to connect with her party's grassroots.

And then the head fake -- and something different.

After a few minutes, the Clintons walked into a nearby barn, out of view. Most of the media swarm gave up and hustled back to the main event, where nearly 7,000 Democrats were eating red meat and waiting patiently in the sunshine to hear from two of the most famous people in the world.

A few dozen press were still milling about when the duo re-emerged. "There she is!" a television reporter screamed, clamoring for her cameraman.

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Clinton returns to Iowa; so is this a fresh start or deja vu?

Hillary Clinton is spending the latter part of the week speaking about issues central to women, whose support would prove crucial to her anticipated presidential bid.

On Thursday Mrs. Clinton and various female lawmakers took part in a panel discussion devoted to womens economic concerns.

The event was hosted by the Center for American Progress a liberal think tank and moderated by Neera Tanden, president of the group and a former senior aide in Mrs. Clintons 2008 presidential bid.

She posed for a photo with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Patty Murray and others at the CAP event.Mrs. Clinton is set to appear Friday at the Democratic National Committees Womens Leadership Forum.

In her appearance Thursday, Mrs. Clinton took a swipe at congressional Republicans, whom she suggested were living in an evidence-free zone.

She also talked about hardships faced by everyday Americans, who are not getting the kinds of jobs that will provide the kind of income they need for themselves and their families she said.

A recent Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll showed that women have a far more positive view of Mrs. Clinton than men.

Only 35% of men had a favorable image of the former secretary of state, compared with 49% of women, the poll showed.

A closer look at the numbers shows Mrs. Clintons female support varies among ethnic and demographic groups.

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Hillary Clinton Turns Attention to Women Voters

Hillary Clinton, Madam President? - LoneWolf Sager
At a memorial for Maya Angelou, Angelou #39;s grandson drew laughs by referring to Hillary Clinton as Madam President. - LoneWolf The Three Muskadoggies "Pleas...

By: LoneWolf Sager

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Hillary Clinton, Madam President? - LoneWolf Sager - Video