Obama Drops Reporters From Plane*
The Obama campaign has told the Washington Times, the New York Post and the Dallas Morning News that there will not be room for them to travel on the plane in the last 72 hours of the campaign. Though all three papers have recently endorsed John McCain, an Obama aide points out that they still have seats for the Wall Street Journal, Fox News and Fox News Radio (okay, neither Fox News or Fox News Radio to my knowledge have endorsed McCain but the point is perceived bias).
From Obama spokeswoman Jenn Psaki:
"Unfortunately, demand for seats on the plane during this final weekend has far exceeded supply, and because of logistical issues we made the decision not to add a second plane. This means we've had to make hard and unpleasant for all concerned decisions about limiting some news organizations and in some cases not being in a position to offer space to news organizations altogether. We are doing everything possible to accommodate the outlets that will not have a seat on the plane including offering assistance with hotel rooms, making sure there is space on buses and providing these outlets with all of the information that traveling press receives."
Indeed, staff have bent over backwards so that this is not perceived as a Joe Klein/John McCain-type situation. An Obama source explains that given that state of the charter plane industry – I guess it's pretty bad – there are few medium-sized planes available. They say the demand wouldn't fill a second large plane (on this point, I'm SURE the campaign could easily fill a second large plane, there's like 1,000 Japanese outlets with the money and the creepy zealous interest who'd love to travel) and that adding a second plane would add 90-minutes of travel logistics to Obama's daily schedule (also a weird point since it's not unheard of to do local interviews to fill this time as Kerry did in 2004).
In 2004, I remember doing nine events the Saturday before the Election with Bush, and Kerry added a second plane at the end of his bid – both moves were attempts to reach as many voters through the press (local for Bush and national for Kerry) as they could. Obama, by contrast, is averaging three events a day and they clearly aren't worried that their message isn't reaching the voters. Indeed, for all of McCain's griping about press bias, one of Obama's most impressive feats this campaign cycle has been his ability to speak directly to his supporters. Hey, who needs a hundred pesky reporters following you around when you've got the Internet and the money to buy 30-minute commercials?
Update:
Scherer tells me that the McCain campaign has added a second plane to handle the increased demand in the final days.
*Clearly, as commentator Joe Bftsplk reminds me, I was not meant to be a headline writer: I didn't in any way mean to imply that Obama is literally dropping them out the emergency hatch at 30,000 feet.
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JNS, I'm hoping your headline is not meant literally.
Otherwise, I'd recommend different reporters.
(Not you, of course!)
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Why on Earth does FOX News get a seat over Dallas Morning News?
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He would be completely justified in dropping them from 3,000 ft. Hey JNS, even Halperin's givin up on Drudge...what will you do now?
http://thepage.time.com/2008/10/31/matts-last-gasp-not-really/ -
Why is the Japanese interest "creepy zealous"? Both in Southeast Asia and Australia many people I encountered recently are fascinated. Perhaps I am missing something about the Japanese media's interest.
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Hey, Jay, why do you describe the interest of Japanese readers as "creepy zealous"?
In one post you've proven why copy editors are a good idea: They know how to write headlines and edit out giant "oops!" like this one.
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JNS, I'm not sure I understand why the Obama campaign should accomodate the media interest with a second plane. Could you perhaps fill me in? I mean, why do news services need to each have reporters at these events? Habla stringers? Pool? Internal organization? Findyourowndamn flight.com?
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I guess I'm just a little unclear about the media status and massage treatment that is being counched in some language called "need for increased voter outreach" or some such nonsense. In this day and age of MASSIVE, I mean truly MASSIVE across the broadband 24/7 infotainment saturation neverendingnews cycles, I'm not sure I see the need for one full plane on non-rotating journalists.
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Frankly, none of you should have had your asses planted on the planes this long. It's made your coverage questionable. Seriously. Questionable.
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Dana Bash and John King are waay too cozy with the McCain campaign. I'm expecting any moment for her to announce that the chuppah is going up over the tire swing. And Suzanne Malveaux at CNN is only slightly better. Candy Crowly needs to change her field of reporting altogether. She's been in it so long, she's still reporting on the campaigns from four and eight years ago.
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The problem isn't only at CNN. Political reporters get cozy with campaigns in ways that infect them like the clap. They should be treated like they have a disease and rotated out of the filed on assignments covering election in far off democracies on a regular basis, and they shouldn't be allowed to cover US politics for any one candidate for any regular period of time at all.
.Our national political discourse has become indistinguishable from the gossip that you folks discuss in the bar after a day on the trail. White noise. With cocktail onions.
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It's crap. -
JNS,
Ask Scherer if that means they are letting Joe Klein back on the plane.
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Well, the McCain campaign adding a second plane obviously accounts for all the "race is tightening" stories recently. Not to mention what a bad thing it is for Obama to be buying all these ads.
They have obviously chosen different ways to spend their money. I have received four hate mail pieces from McCain (mailed by some PA 527), but not one mailer from the Obama campaign.
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Wow I feel like im in a transformers movie
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sgwhiteinfla,
I don't think Joe Klein will be flying with McCain anytime soon after he has been so forthcoming in describing McCain's train wreck of a campaign.
Where have all of the trolls gone? I almost miss their mindless verbal assaults and alternate realities. It must be tough on them to know that their guy is going to lose and the Republican Party has imploded. I love it.
I predicted that the Republicans would run this country into the ground after the 2000 elections and leave an opening for the Democratic Party. I just did not foresee how much damage would be done.
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"Scherer tells me that the McCain campaign has added a second plane to handle the increased demand in the final days."
Oh, that means Joe Klein is now back on McCain's plane?
Didn't think so.
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Oops. Beat to the punch. Again.
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sgwhiteinfla,
I don't think Joe Klein will be flying with McCain anytime soon after he has been so forthcoming in describing McCain's train wreck of a campaign.
Where have all of the trolls gone? I almost miss their mindless verbal @ssaults and alternate realities. It must be tough on them to know that their guy is going to lose and the Republican Party has imploded. I love it.
I predicted that the Republicans would run this country into the ground after the 2000 elections and leave an opening for the Democratic Party. I just did not foresee how much damage would be done.
The first time the moderator has got me.
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For what it's worth, I thought the hed was fine - even if the humor was unintentional.
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" .. McCain campaign has added a second plane to handle the increased demand in the final days. .."
Totally American.
Totally macabre - to document a loser's death throes. -
JNS - Amy Sullivan/High Sheriff Eisenberg's headline is worse than yours. It would have been a funnier headline if were the McCain campaign.
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JNS with the hacktacular full court press, no surprise there. The headline speaks for itself. Why read past that, we already know the quality of the intellect.
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