The Arizona Daily Star reported that the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign has requested to know the race of one of the Star's reporters who would be covering an event.
The article states that all journalists who cover presidential or vice-presidential events must undergo a background check and provide their name, birthday, and social security number.
The Star provided all of that information willingly, but still received a call from the campaign asking to provide the reporter's race.
Why would the campaign need this other information?
According to Danny Diaz, a spokesman for Bush-Cheney '04, the journalist's race was needed for security purposes. When asked if it was typical White House practice to ask for that information, or if the journalist, Mamta Popat, was singled out because of her name (which is Indian), Diaz referred those questions to the Secret Service.
The Star's managing editor, Teri Hayt, refused to give the information, saying, "One has to wonder what they were going to do with that information...Because she has Indian ancestry, were they going to deny her access? I don't know."
Christine Walton, an organizer for the event, had asked two other Star editors for the journalist's race before speaking with Hayt. The other editors also refused to release the information.
Walton said the Secret Service needed to know so that they could differentiate between Popat and someone else who may share the same name.
Hayt called it "a very lame excuse."
After all, there were probably going to be a lot of "Mamta Popets" attending the event that day.
more info:
"Bush camp solicits race of Star staffer"
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