Opinion: Welcome aboard. My name is Hillary

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It’s actually a standard political gimmick in most every traveling presidential campaign to allow the candidate to show a sense of humor. He/she comes on the airplane intercom with the too-familiar flight attendant briefing for the press corps seated in the rear.

But this time Sen. Hillary Clinton put her own twist on the ‘announcement’ as her campaign plane left Las Vegas for Reno recently.

‘Welcome aboard the maiden flight of Hill Force One,’ she said. ‘My name is Hillary and I am so pleased to have most of you on board. FAA regulations prohibit the use of any cellphones, Blackberries or wireless devices that may be used to transmit a negative story about me.’

‘In the event of an unexpected drop in poll numbers, this plane will be diverted to New Hampshire... Once we’ve reached cruising altitude, we’ll be offering in-flight entertainment: my stump speech.... we are grateful that you chose the plane with the most experienced crew.’

The plane landed safely anyway.

-- Andrew Malcolm