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Home Front: Politix
Washington Times kicked off Obama plane for finale
2008-10-31
The Washington Times, which has covered the Barack Obama campaign from the start, was kicked off the Democrat's campaign plane for the final 72 hours of the race.

The Obama campaign informed the newspaper Thursday evening of its decision, which came two days after The Times editorial page endorsed Senator John McCain over Mr. Obama. The Times editorial page runs completely independent of the news department.

"This feels like the journalistic equivalent of redistributing the wealth, we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars covering Senator Obama's campaign, traveling on his plane, and taking our turn in the reporter's pool, only to have our seat given away to someone else in the last days of the campaign," said Washington Times Executive Editor John Solomon. "I hope the candidate that promises to unite America isn't using a litmus test to determine who gets to cover his campaign."
Gee John, it seems like that's exactly what he's doing. Question is whether the MSM gets the message, and I'll bet it does ...
The Times formally protested the decision, noting that it has one of the top 20 largest newspaper Web sites in the country, distributes its print edition in the key battleground state of Virginia, and has had its stories repeatedly cited by Mr. Obama and other Democrats throughout the campaign.

"Sen. Obama himself demonstrated he appreciates the importance of The Washington Times and its news coverage. In June, he wrote a letter citing a Times' investigative project that highlighted government mistreatment of our veterans. Sen. Obama requested an investigation by Congress and the administration, both of which confirmed the problems and led to corrective action at the VA. In his August acceptance speech, Sen. Obama also prominently mentioned our interview with Sen. Phil Gramm and the now infamous comments about a 'mental recession' and a 'nation of whiners'," wrote Mr. Solomon in an e-mail to Obama campaign manager David Plouffe.

Times reporter Christina Bellantoni, who has covered the Democratic campaign since 2007, is being asked to leave the campaign plane starting Sunday. In defending its decision, the Obama campaign said it respected Ms. Bellantoni's reporting and simply ran out of seats on the campaign plane for the finale because of high demand. It also noted that the Obama campaign is allowing some news media critical of the Democrat to travel, including Fox News.

"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," wrote Obama campaign Senior Advisor and Chief Communications Officer Anita Dunn in an e-mail.
I'll bet her lips didn't fall off afterwards ...
"There are simply no more seats on Senator Obama's plane," she added. "There are press seats available on Senator Bidens plane for travel this final weekend and The Washington Times is encouraged to include our vice presidential nominee in your coverage plans for this final stretch."
Who wants to read about him?
Posted by:tipper

#18  HELP! I'm stuck in a loop! The directions say "Shampoo.Rinse.Repeat." They always say that! When can I stop!? Please, help!
[/smirk]
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839   2008-10-31 18:07  

#17  too late, its gone.

and i also do not (from the toothpaste tube directions sction, how far we have sunk ,when you need this): "for best results, squeeze from the bottom and flatten as you go up."
I 'spect Nobama will have a Pepsodent Patrol to monitor our compliance to that also.
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2008-10-31 17:23  

#16  Be careful USN, Ret., you are running with scissors.
Posted by: JohnQC   2008-10-31 16:54  

#15  So next up in the scour the database for dirt, following the successful Joe The Plumber event, is
Jimmie Olson The Reporter.

agree w/ earlier posts: petty and vindictive. I also expect the Thought police out in force. But nobody is gonna stop me from ripping my mattress tag off.
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2008-10-31 14:47  

#14  There will be a lot more of this if BHO gets elected. Get used to it. Otherwise vote for McCain-Palin.
Posted by: JohnQC   2008-10-31 13:43  

#13  The vengefulness which characterized the Clinton Administration (the likes of which even Democrats deemed to be legendary - after a cocktail or two loosened their tongues) will pale in comparison to what is coming should Gov. Palin be unable to pull McCain's ass (by extension, ours) out the fire.
Posted by: MarkZ   2008-10-31 13:31  

#12  We're just saying that this is a good example of the petty, vengefulness of him and his entourage.

Like we didn't already know that?
Posted by: tu3031   2008-10-31 13:07  

#11  Hey, Tu, no one said he can't do it. We're just saying that this is a good example of the petty, vengefulness of him and his entourage.

Laughable when it's a campaign, but wait till the FBI or his new "CivilianSecurityCorps" starts taking names and kicking ass. You down with that?
Posted by: AlanC   2008-10-31 13:02  

#10  Of course the other 'journalists' all refused to travel in solidarity with their brethren - NOT. And there in lies the message that any administration can stick it to any outlet that it desires and the pack will simply look to their own individual interests and positioning over 'solidarity'. It's about POWER, baby.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2008-10-31 13:00  

#9  And it doesn't sound like they'll be missing much...

On Air Obama, reporters gawk at him moving around up front, talking with aides or on a cell phone, but can only guess what he is saying or thinking. Not only do the reporters have little interaction with the candidates, but increasingly they are having little impact on the broad campaign narratives and daily story lines that supply most voters with their impressions of the candidates.

That's more often taking place in cable studios or on Web sites far removed from the ceaseless grind of the press bubble — in which reporters schlump on and off the plane, in and out of buses and gymnasiums-turned-filing centers, several times a day, dozens of times a week.

A combination of technology and iron message discipline by heavily centralized campaigns has consigned these reporters – once the storied “boys on the bus” – largely to feeding off the public material available to almost anyone over the Web, with very little interaction with the next president of the United States.

And Obama is available to the press corps in spurts – most recently, for an availability in Ohio eight days ago. He has had five press availabilities in the three weeks since the Democratic convention, several of them focused on Hurricane Gustav.

Since the dawn of campaign planes, print reporters were protective of their seat assignments, since those closer to the front had a better chance of asking a question if the candidate strolled back.

But in a sign of the times, Obama reporters in recent weeks have spread out to the empty rows, confident that there would be nothing to see up front.
Posted by: tu3031   2008-10-31 12:39  

#8  He owns the plane, he decides who flys in it. Is it payback? Probably. But he owns the plane.
There's plenty of reasons to get on Barry's case, believe me, but I don't think this one's worth getting into a pissing contest over.
Posted by: tu3031   2008-10-31 12:27  

#7  Thanks Steve, I was wondering if someone would pick up on that possibility and was trying to work up how to ask the question.
Posted by: tipover   2008-10-31 12:22  

#6  Hey Grasping, are you one of the Obama employees who's job it is to monitor 'right-wing' blogs and insert comments when necessary? How much does it pay? Have you enjoyed your work throughout the campaign? What job have you been promised in the new Obama administration, assuming your guy wins?


Inquiring minds want to know. While we're not the Washington Times, we could always do a story on this. Shoot me an e-mail and we'll set something up. Unfortunately, we don't do anonymous sources so you'll be quoted on the record.



Looking forward to hearing from you.



AoS (moderator, Rantburg)
Posted by: Steve White   2008-10-31 12:00  

#5  Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action.
Posted by: ed   2008-10-31 11:51  

#4  Now for the rest of the story, from Fox:

"I can only hope that the candidate who describes himself as wanting to unite the nation doesn't have some sort of litmus test for who he decides gets to cover the campaign," Solomon said, noting that the Obama campaign's decision came just two days after the paper endorsed McCain.

The New York Post and Dallas Morning News also have been kicked off Obama's plane.

According to the Web site The Drudge Report, the three newspapers' reporters were told to find alternative transportation by Sunday so that the plane could accommodate "network bigwigs" and reporters from two black magazines, Essence and Jet.

Not only Washington Times, but also Dallas Morning News, and New York Post, all three supporting McCain.

To each his own according to his need
Posted by: Sherry   2008-10-31 11:19  

#3  Oh get real. They ran out of seats and offered them seats on Biden's plane. They chose larger newspapers over the smaller Washington Times and had they rejected the larger papers because of the lack of seats, you'd be posting the same thing and calling it suppression too. If he got a second plane just for the reporters, you'd be complaining about all the money he's spending. What was the right move here?? What could he have done to make you happy??

The Washington Times reported this statement:


"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," wrote Obama campaign Senior Advisor and Chief Communications Officer Anita Dunn in an e-mail.

"There are simply no more seats on Senator Obama's plane," she added. "There are press seats available on Senator Bidens plane for travel this final weekend and The Washington Times is encouraged to include our vice presidential nominee in your coverage plans for this final stretch."
Posted by: grasping   2008-10-31 11:08  

#2  Eisenacher PR team, your seats are now available in row 21, A, B, and C.
Posted by: Besoeker   2008-10-31 11:00  

#1  Not one of Hilton's obama's BFF's?

Tie game in the bottom of the 8th and team o fires its pitching coach.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2008-10-31 10:53  

00:00