"If you wish to debate or discuss policy, it's best to do it without presenting the opposing side as some kind of straw man or caricature."

Including the one they make of themselves? Including going to Bosnia with Sinbad under "sniper fire"? And repealing the gas tax was a policy proposal, duh. No straw man or caricature there.   

"Treat both sides as if they are thoughtful and intelligent, and the discussion will go farther and deeper."

Right. Even when the other side says that economic analysis is tantamount to "elitism". 

Your problem, Naftali, after scores of posts where you see how intriguing a twisted argument you can conjure just for the hell of it, is the degree to which you discount reality. It's fine to live in an internal reality that you've essentially invented - as Clinton does, incidentally - but the fact is that Clinton is casting herself as the "common person" caricature who claims to know better than people who've actually studied these proposals -- people whom SHE caricatures as elites. For those who don't invent their own reality, but are actually curious about looking at the external world as it is, we call those people individuals who seem to have a better handle on knowing what they're talking about.

"Besides, it's just good journalism."

It's everything that's wrong with journalism and helps explain the slow demise of the major televised and print news media as it's existed up until now. Comparing empiric observations with beliefs and attitudes in and of themselves is a huge waste of most people's time.