Washington Times kicked off Obama plane

Maureen Dowd, a liberal columnist for The New York Times, was excluded from the McCain campaign airplane in late August after writing about a McCain-Palin rally in Washington, Pa.

“It was disappointing because I didn’t think John McCain would ever be as dismissive of the First Amendment as Dick Cheney,” Ms. Dowd said in a statement.

Time Magazine writer Joe Klein was also kept off the McCain-Palin plane.

Other times, a lack of seating was undisputed as the issue that resulted in some reporters being excluded from campaign airplanes.

Dallas Morning News reporters were excluded from a McCain campaign airplane as more journalists clamored to cover the final days before the election.

“For what it’s worth, we’ve had the same trouble with the McCain campaign,” a Dallas Morning News blog entry said Friday. “One of our reporters dropped off earlier this week when space became an issue, and we’re only getting back on with McCain tomorrow for the final weekend because they, unlike the Obama campaign, are adding a second plane.”