3 papers for McCain kicked off Obama jet

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By S.A. Miller

UPDATE:

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign decided to jettison The Washington Times, the New York Post and the Dallas Morning News from the Democrat's campaign plane, insisting the expulsions were due to lack of seats and not because all three newspapers endorsed Republican Sen. John McCain for president.

The campaign said it ran out of room on Mr. Obama's Boeing 757 because more reporters and photographers from his hometown newspapers -- the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times -- were coming aboard, as well as reporters from black-oriented magazines Ebony and Jet and the candidate's wife, Michelle Obama, and her Secret Service bodyguards.

Other campaign staff said space was tight because TV network news celebrities were joining the trip and the HBO documentary film crew recording the final leg of his historic run for a project by actor Edward Norton joined the plane Friday.

"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," Obama campaign senior adviser Anita Dunn said. "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."

The campaign said The Times reporter will be off the plane as of Sunday. Separately, the campaign also denied a request from a Times photographer who has traveled on the plane previously.

The three banished newspapers are known for their conservative editorial pages, which operate independently of news departments. According to Editor & Publisher, Mr. Obama leads Mr. McCain in newspaper editorial-page endorsements by a 2-to-1 margin.

The Obama campaign, defending its decision, noted that some news outlets critical of the Illinois Democrat kept their seats on the plane, including Fox News and the Wall Street Journal. The foreign press corps, which is more interested than ever in the U.S. election, also was not allowed on the Obama plane.

Spokeswoman Linda Douglass said the changes on the plane had "absolutely nothing" to do with the organizations' coverage.

The Obama campaign said it was unable to answer The Times' questions about which news organizations would be traveling with the candidate or how many reporters and photographers from other newspapers would be aboard the plane. The only campaign staff with that information were on the plane and not readily available to comment, Obama campaign spokesman Nick Shapiro said.