Yesterday, something utterly extraordinary happened at the Democratic convention in Charlotte: hundreds of delegates loudly booed an attempt by convention chair and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to put a reference to God and an affirmation that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel back into the Democratic platform.
After three attempts at doing this by voice vote, with the nays getting louder each time, a clearly shaken Villaraigosa simply gaveled the motion through, despite obviously lacking the two-thirds support the motion needed.
It was an ugly spectacle, and the type of unscripted, raw moment that journalists supposedly live for when covering a campaign. Yet most major newspapers apparently deemed the incident not very newsworthy.
A survey of today’s newspapers finds that few thought the incident was front-page news. Most instead lead with recaps of Bill Clinton’s speech. Stories about the incident were buried inside the papers. Most of those focus on the Jerusalem part of the dispute and downplay the booing. Several make no reference at all to the fact that an mention of God in the platform was also at issue.
Here’s what you’ll find on the front of the major national newspapers today:
The New York Times: Its front page has no mention of the incident, and instead splashes a large picture of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama hugging. The incident is mentioned in a story on page A 14.
The Washington Post: It has no mention on the incident on its front page. A story about the incident is carried on page A10 and does not mention the booing or the “God” reference in the platform.
USA Today: Their front page teases the story with, “Jerusalem, God added to platform, 6A.”
The story can be read here though it focuses exclusively on the Jerusalem part of the controversy.
The Wall Street Journal: Their front page teases the incident in their What’s News column, “The Democrats return language in their platform calling Jerusalem Israel’s capitol.” The story is here.
On the front pages of the other major newspapers you’ll find:
The Boston Globe: One of the few that does feature the incident on its front page, with a story by Bryan Bender, “Under fire, Democrats revise plank on Jerusalem.”
The Chicago Tribune: Their front page has no reference to it.
The Newark Star-Ledger: Their front page has no reference to it.
The Dallas Morning News: Their front page has no reference to it.
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Their front page teases the story with “Platform changed for God and Jerusalem, A6.”
The Los Angeles Times: Their front page has no reference to the incident.
The Detroit News: Their front page has no reference to it.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal: Their front page has no reference to the incident.
The San Francisco Chronicle: Their front page has no reference to the incident.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer: Their front page teases a story “Platform changes: Embarrassed by Republicans, Democrats amend their convention platform to add a mention of God and to declare that Jerusalem is the capitol of Israel, Details, A5.”
The Miami Herald: The Florida paper gives the incident major play on their front page, with a story titled, “Backlash over party platform on Israel,” by Erika Bolstad and Marc Caputo.
