By: Jim Meyers
Dean Reynolds of CBS News spent 12 months covering Barack Obama’s campaign before recently switching to John McCain’s election effort, and he found the differences between the two “striking” — right down to the smell of their campaign planes.
Reynolds, son of legendary anchorman Frank Reynolds, made these observations in his Reporter’s Notebook:
# Obama’s campaign schedule is more hectic than McCain’s. Aides who deal with the press are often overwhelmed and uninformed about “where, when, why or how the candidate is moving about.”
# The McCain campaign provides reporters with printed schedules so they can plan accordingly. Obama offers no printed schedules and dismisses complaints from reporters who wonder why.
# McCain’s press aides are more knowledgeable and more friendly and useful to reporters than Obama staffers.
# The GOP candidate’s events are better designed to accommodate the needs of the press corps.
# McCain is friendly and “loquacious” with reporters when he’s on the stump. Obama holds news conferences, but seldom chats with reporters.
# McCain’s campaign plane is better than Obama’s, which is “cramped, uncomfortable and smells terrible most of the time,” Reynolds disclosed. “Somehow the McCain folks manage to keep their charter clean, even where the press is seated.”
# When reporters recently asked for more time to write up McCain’s remarks and prepare their reports after a speech, the campaign readily agreed. But Reynolds notes that “similar requests are often denied or ignored by the Obama campaign aides, apparently terrified that the candidate may have to wait 20 minutes to allow reporters to chronicle what he’s just said.”
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Topic: CBS: Obama’s Plane 'Smells Terrible' (Read 2163 times)