The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > The Reports: Journalists Scramble, but a Secret Is Kept (Mostly) Safe

WASHINGTON, July 6 - Perhaps the most sought-after people in the nation during the holiday weekend were the workers charged with affixing decals with the name of Senator John Kerry's running mate on the side of his campaign plane as it sat in a hangar in Pittsburgh. Producers with several major news outlets said that in their determination to be first with the name, they went all out to track down the workers, assuming they would be the first to know.

And they were: Mr. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, called the workers even before he called Mr. Edwards. And a visitor to an obscure aviation Web log reported seeing the decals being changed at 9:44 p.m. Monday. But reporters for major operations never ferreted out the same information.

This could be a long election year...

#posted by Dave 6:56:00 PM