Barack Obama’s motorcade raced across the tarmac at Amman’s airport, bringing the candidate, his staffers and his “protective press pool” to Obama’s chartered 757. A sleek gray Mercedes 600 led the way, confidently coming to a stop just feet from the steps leading up to Obama’s first class cabin.

The presumptive Democratic nominee is typically driven by the Secret Service, but his driver tonight was none other than King Abdullah. Obama rode shotgun and the duo were the car’s only passengers.

The two emerged and chatted amicably for a couple minutes on the tarmac as cameras rolled, shook hands, and then the candidate turned and waved before he strode up the stairs into his plane. King Abdullah stood and watched his pal until he was out of sight.

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While the press did get a chance to see the two chat plane side, it’s unclear what they discussed over their dinner. The King and hopeful president, along with Queen Rania, several Jordanian officials, Senators Reed and Hagel, and an Obama advisor spent the evening discussing issues at a dinner hosted by Abdullah at the King’s palace.

As the campaign plane began its descent into Tel Aviv after a quick 25-minute flight, two Obama advisors ventured back to the cramped press section of the plane to brief the press on the dinner. When the campaign informed reporters it would be a session “on background,” meaning it cannot be for attribution, the press revolted.

Television, newspaper, and wire reporters all refused the briefing unless it was “on the record,” but the campaign would not acquiesce. One of the advisors, a former high-ranking official in the Clinton White House, said the briefing had to be on background because “in all my years with the White House I never read-out a meeting on the record.”

Press reminded the advisor that Obama was not the President, nor was this a White House trip. The pair left without divulging details on the dinner.

But, rewarding “bad” behavior, the campaign agreed to hold an on the record briefing tomorrow morning, with senior advisor Susan Rice. Stay tuned.

Read the Jordanian Embassy’s take of their meeting below the jump.

(more…)

News outlets, including FOX News, spend thousands of dollars a day just to travel reporters on a presidential campaign. Flights on a presidential charter can cost as much as $4,000 a leg per person, often with numerous flights a day. For the fare, reporters not only get the convenience of being able to cover all of the candidate’s events, but are also afforded some degree of access to the candidate and his staff.

Which is just one of the many reasons why Obama’s traveling press corps was downright frustrated when, after a rally in Northern Virginia, the campaign jet’s pilot announced we were ready for takeoff from Washington’s Dulles airport - without one passenger Barack Obama. The candidate, his national trip director, and body man, we were told, would return to Chicago on a separate jet.

As the Obama-less plane was set to taxi, Communications Director Robert Gibbs informed reporters that since the likely Democratic nominee won’t be in DC for awhile, he had scheduled meetings in the city. When asked the obvious - if he was meeting with Senator Clinton - Gibbs declined to discuss Obama’s plans and promptly retreated to the front of the cabin for takeoff.

Reporters furiously typed emails and made phone calls to inform colleagues of the development as the plane lumbered to and down the runway. Minutes later, we were airborne and without answers.

During the hour and a half flight, Gibbs attempted to placate the agitated press corps, but mostly repeated the line: “He had some time for meetings that he wanted to do, so we scheduled some meetings for him tonight and he’ll fly back to Chicago a couple hours after we do.” Gibbs would not discuss the location, nature, or participants of the meetings because “the meetings are private.”

One reporter wondered why we didn’t just wait for him on the tarmac. What was the rationale for leaving? “For us to get back to Chicago,” Gibbs responded.

“For your benefit?” someone enquired. “Not necessarily for my benefit,” Gibbs said with a laugh.

“Who needs to get back to Chicago? We need to be where the candidate is,” a reporter shot back.

As cameras and voice recorders rolled, Gibbs fielded questions from about a dozen reporters, each of whom questioned why there was a deviation from Standard Operating Procedure.

One veteran campaign reporter scolded, “Right now it is a general election – they’re treated the same way the president is. If the president goes bike riding, we go with him. If he goes out to dinner or goes to visit a friend three blocks up the road, we go with him in the motorcade, and that’s the expectation in the general election, and that’s the way with previous candidates…that’s the way it’s done. So why are we diverging from that?” she asked. “We would have been happy to sit on the runway. We didn’t have anything better to do other than to do what we’re paying for, which is to cover the candidate and he’s not here.”

Trying to defuse the situation, Gibbs asked that we write our grievances down and email him. “I understand your objections, and I will make sure that everyone is aware of that,” he said, while making the point that “it wasn’t an attempt to deceive in any way; it’s just private meetings.”

When the plane landed, reporters stranded in the air began receiving word that the meeting had in fact occurred. Gibbs wandered back to issue a statement:

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Hours later when the candidate returned to his Hyde Park home, he was greeted by camera crews and reporters staking out his home. After all, privacy is hard to come by when you’re running for president.

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BEVERLY HILLS, CA — While he is typically more accessible to the press than his rivals on the campaign trail, Sen. McCain said Wednesday that his fundraisers will remain closed to the media.

“It’s because the people who are…raising the money request that. And I will continue to be accessible, and the most accessible campaign in history to the media,” McCain told reporters today, but not before bringing up Obama’s infamous “bitter” comments, which the Democrat originally uttered at a private fundraiser of his own. “I’d also like to say I do not say in my, during fundraisers comments like the people in Pennsylvania being bitter and angry and turn against their religion and the Constitution because of their economic conditions. I say the same thing in fundraisers and closed events as I do in open events.”

But Bloomberg’s Hans Nichols pushed for proof of this consistent message asking, “are we just supposed to take your word for it?”

“If you want to. If you want to. You don’t have to,” McCain shot back.

The presumptive Republican nominee’s fundraisers have come under increased scrutiny after he held a private event with President Bush Tuesday, where both men reportedly spoke to attendees. While McCain often offers reporters hours more of Q and A time each week compared to his opponents, he keeps all fundraisers off limits while Sens. Obama and Clinton both allow a representative from the media to cover money events at public venues.

The Obama campaign released the following statement on former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan’s new book, which criticizes both the Administration and the press corps on the lead up to the war in Iraq.

“It’s not news that this Administration engaged in spin and deception to lead us into a war that should’ve never been authorized and never been waged, the only question now is, do we continue George Bush’s failed policy in Iraq or do we change it?  John McCain is promising four more years of the exact same policy in Iraq that asks everything of our brave troops and nothing of the Iraqi government, while Barack Obama wants to begin a phased withdrawal of our troops and refocus our efforts on going after al-Qaeda in Afghanistan,” said Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan.

At a town hall in Gresham, Oregon, Barack Obama was asked why Senator McCain doesn’t get the same scrutiny in the press as he has received - for instance, the voter wondered why McCain’s gotten a pass on the Keating Five scandal.

Obama explained that because the Republican race was wrapped up relatively early, “people were not paying close attention to his record.”

“I mean it is very understandable that the press focus has been on myself and Senator Clinton because this has been a pretty exciting race on the Democratic side. I would expect that the press will submit him to the same scrutiny that they are submitting me. And if they don’t, I’ll have them talk to you,” Obama joked.

Barack Obama ended his day late last night at an Indiana auto parts factory, where he greeted voters leaving a shift at midnight. “I need everybody to vote tomorrow, take your friends, take your family; go out there and vote. This is going to be a close race - every single vote is really going to count,” Obama said to a gaggle of UAW members.

After 19 hours, a couple of states, and multiple events, Barack Obama’s press corps was tired - but not the candidate himself, who leisurely greeted workers for more than 40 minutes.

Watch his interaction with haggard reporters a little after midnight.

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Pushing through today’s primaries, Barack Obama left his hotel bright and early again this morning, heading to a restaurant to greet the breakfast crowd before dropping by an Indianapolis polling precinct. He even managed to squeeze two games of basketball in with friends and staffers in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, one photographer calculated that some of Obama’s reporters have gotten six hours of sleep over the last three days. Seven hours if you count a nap on the plane.

Barack Obama ended his ten day “standoff” with his traveling press, when he took questions today from his traveling press corps at a Pittsburgh restaurant. The first question of the day - “Why no waffles today?”, referring to Obama answering a reporters question yesterday with, “Why is it that I just can’t eat my waffle?”

Obama responded, “Because they said that their pancakes were the best.” As he enjoyed breakfast, he looked at the press and offered them a bite. No one accepted. “You’re missing out,” he said.

After his meal, Obama took questions some more substantive questions from his press. Asked if he thought he had a chance of winning Pennsylvania’s primary today, Obama replied, “I always think we have a chance.” Noting he’d closed a big gap in the polls, he continued, “A lot of it is going to depend on turnout today, and it’s really hard to gauge.”

The campaign has been predicting a second place finish today, but stressed that Clinton needs to win by “blowout” proportions – more than 20 points. Obama noted, “If you take a look at how the delegates play themselves out at the end of the night, we should be able to measure, given how many contests are left, whether they can make up that ground.”

But in a campaign memo distributed to reporters, Obama’s team downplayed the significance of today’s results. “Tonight’s outcome is unlikely to change the dynamic of this lengthy primary. Fully three quarters of the remaining delegates will be selected in states other than Pennsylvania. While there are 158 delegates at stake in today’s primary, there are 157 up for grabs in the Indiana and North Carolina primaries two weeks from today. We expect that by tomorrow morning, the overall structure of the race will remain unchanged—except for the fact that there will be 158 delegates off the table.”

Obama was also asked about Bill Clinton’s answer yesterday on a Philadelphia radio station about his comments following Obama’s South Carolina victory when he compared the Obama to Jesse Jackson. The former president said that the Obama camp “played the race card” on him and that “we know now from memos in the campaign that they planned to do it all along.”

Upon hearing the question, where the reporter quoted Clinton, Obama chuckled and incredulously said, “Hold on a second, so former president Clinton dismissed my victory in South Carolina as being similar to Jesse Jackson and he is suggesting that somehow I had something to do with it? You better ask him what he meant by that. I have no idea what he meant. These were not words that came out of his mouth - not words that came out of mine.”

Barack Obama has not taken questions from his traveling press corps in the form of a media availability for ten days now. While we don’t expect to have one prior to when polls close tomorrow in Pennsylvania, Senior Advisor David Axelrod told reporters today, “I’m sure that he’ll be spending time with you sometime soon.”

For the past three days the travelers have been clamoring for an “avail.” On Saturday, Obama campaign staffers promised the group there would be a chance to question the senator on board his train during his “On Track for Change” tour, but it mysteriously went away. The campaign informed us they’d try to reschedule it for Sunday, but later said they couldn’t fit it into Obama’s schedule. Perhaps today, Monday? The campaign said they could add one at any time, but as of 9:30pm, not yet.

Obama notoriously holds fewer media avails than the other two candidates left in the race, so reporters covering the Democrat often resort to lobbing questions to him on the fly – on a ropeline following an event, on the tarmac at the airport, or while the candidate is pressing the flesh at a retail stop along the trail – at a Dunkin’ Donuts in New Hampshire or a Iowa supermarket, for example. This way of questioning the candidate comes with mixed results, however.

Last Friday a reporter threw Obama a question on a Pennsylvania tarmac as he deplaned and the candidate obliged with a two sentence response. He made a blip of news, but Obama’s senior aides were none too happy and admonished press wranglers for not loading the press buses sooner. Other times, however, Obama will scold the reporter – usually with a smile or a wink – or just ignore the question all together.

Just today, when asked about former President Jimmy Carter’s meeting with Hamas, Obama replied, “Why is it that I can’t just eat my waffle?” The reporter responded, “I’m just asking…” Obama put an end to question period by winking and saying, “I’m just gonna eat my waffle right now.”

Later when Obama taped an appearance on “The Daily Show,” the print pool reporter allowed to witness the interview attempted and failed to get a comment from the candidate. Here’s her dispatch: “On the way into the studio, I asked Obama why he felt it important to respond to the late-breaking Clinton ad with an ad of his own and what he thought of her ad. “Are you supposed to be doing this with the pool?” he asked, and laughed. Then he sat down and had the earpiece put in. I asked him if he’d give us a comment after the taping and he said, “Maybe, it depends on how well behaved you are.” But then after the taping, I was whisked off ahead of him and didn’t get to bug him again.”

Other reporters who travel regularly with the candidate have similar stories. Once while sorting through stuffed animals and Lego sets at a Toys-for-Tots toy drive in New Hampshire before Christmas, Obama gladly answered questions from the press about the holiday. But when a reporter asked Obama a substantive question on the Iraq war, he chided, “That wasn’t a question about Christmas,” and walked away. “But it was a good try,” he added with a disarming smile.

Another time while walking through a factory in Pennsylvania with a gaggle of press surrounding him, Obama was asked to react to a bit of news. Slightly exasperated, he replied, “See, this is what we get,” to no one in particular. He did not answer the question.

To be fair, Obama does frequently sit down with local media outlets and on occasion, as he did today, taped interviews with anchors with the three big networks and “The Daily Show.” We’ll keep you posted on when he holds another avail for the traveling press - which he typically has done the day after a big primary.

The Clinton campaign has made an issue of Obama’s press coverage, saying we in the media don’t hold him to the same standards to which she is held.

Has he been getting a free ride? Is it true that the press root him on, as spoofed on Saturday Night Live?

Not according to Barack Obama, who three times today at a rally in Fort Worth, Texas, called out the press for doubting his candidacy. His evidence?

First up: The press doubted the excitement and interest in the political process.

“Reporters don’t know what to do. They have been shocked at the high turn out in every early state,” Obama said with a smile.

Next: Experience.

“There are a lot of folks who are telling you, ‘wait, wait, wait!’ They, in fact, they are suspicious of your enthusiasm. You’ve been hearing this in the press, they say, ‘Well first of all, Obama may have good ideas, but he hasn’t been in Washington long enough.’”

And finally: The “Obama Cult” phenomenon.

“I said a lot of the reporters here don’t really understand what you all are doing, because I already had one reporter ask me today, he said, ‘Do you think you peaked too early?’ He said, ‘You’ve got all these people cheering and shouting. You know, people are going to be tired of this by November.’”

And to that, Obama said, “This isn’t about me. This is about you. You are exciting each other because you’re seeing the possibilities of the American people when they stand up and insist on making their government accountable. I’m just the excuse for what you are accomplishing, for what you are making happen all across this country. See, I am inspired by you! I’m infatuated with you!”

The coverage of Barack Obama v. Hillary Clinton will likely be debated for the foreseeable future – please post your comments on the matter. If you think there is a question the press owes Barack Obama – post it here.

On a flight between Macon, Georgia, and Birmingham, Alabama, Sunday morning, Barack Obama took a few questions from reporters gathered in the aisle of the campaign plane. He walked back to the press section of the airplane to talk to the gaggle for about 7 minutes, as the plane was making its descent into Birmingham’s airport.

During the avail, he made it clear that Obama was still the underdog going into the February 5th contests - despite his overwhelming victory last night in South Carolina. Jumping from state to state and holding quick rallies - known as “tarmac campaigning” - is not how Obama won Iowa and South Carolina, where he spent a lot of time on the ground talking to voters and organizing a grassroots movement.

“It presents more of a challenge for us, I don’t think there’s any doubt about it,” he admitted, citing Clinton’s name recognition as a reason. “Here we’re going to have to work with a much more compressed schedule. It’s clear that Senator Clinton, I think, has the advantage in a lot of these states. We would expect them to do very well, but we’re going to campaign and compete across the country and we think we have a strong base of support and certainly coming out of South Carolina, I think we’ve got a lot of energy behind us.”

Obama remained mum when asked about Ted Kennedy’s endorsement, which has been confirmed by FOX News. “Ted Kennedy has not official endorsed my candidacy. I’ve had ongoing conversations with Ted since I’ve got into this race. At the point where he is clear about what he’s doing and wants to make it public, I will let Ted make it public.”

He was more forthcoming on Caroline Kennedy’s glowing endorsement in today’s New York Times, calling it “an extraordinary honor.” He said, “I thought the piece she wrote in the Times today, which I didn’t get a chance to see until last night, was deeply moving and I’m gratified. For somebody who, I think, has been such an important part of our national imagination and who generally shies away from involvement in day to day politics to step out like that is something that I’m very grateful for.”

And on the State of the Union address for which the Senator will return to Washington tomorrow:

“It’s not clear to me where the President wants to take the country in this last year. Obviously this will be his last State of the Union Speech. I suspect he may devote some time to try to explain his record over the last seven years. I am gratified that you’ve at least seen conversations with the White House and the Democrats and the rough outlines of a deal on an economic stimulus, but I hope the president recognizes that the problems we have are deep-seeded; they go beyond the immediate problems of the stock market and the credit markets. We’ve got an economy that’s been out of balance for a very long time, a lot of workers, a lot of middle class families that see their wages and incomes flat-lined over the last several years. We need to move aggressively forward, whether the president feels he can muster an aggressive strategy for the economic problems we face, I don’t know. I also suspect he will talk about Iraq and tout the reductions of violence there. I think the reductions of violence are a positive, so I believe that now is the time to send a clear signal that we’re going to begin pulling our troops out of Iraq. I don’t expect to hear that from the president.”