The Times' Bob Pool went out to Walter Reed Middle School to ask students why a 50-foot-wide image of the front of their school was projected Thursday night behind Sen. John McCain as he accepted the Republican Party's presidential nomination. He got some good guesses: Sixth-grader Joshua Popue offered the explanation most commonly being floated Friday both at the Irvine Avenue campus and in political circles: Somebody in the McCain campaign mistook Walter Reed Middle School for the military's troubled Walter Reed Army Medical Center when preparing the Republicans' high-tech video background wall. "McCain messed up. He was talking about Walter Reed hospital, and he used our picture by mistake," said 11-year-old Joshua. Skyla Swafford, 12, took a more charitable view. "They picked us because our school is one of the nicer schools in the city. They keep it clean and sanitary," the seventh-grader suggested. For the record, McCain's campaign is characterizing the use of the photo as a way of illustrating the candidate's call "for public education reforms that empower parents and students before bureaucrats and labor unions," as spokesman Tucker Bounds put it. Read Bob's full story here. -- Shelby Grad ...
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The Times' Bob Pool went out to Walter Reed Middle School to ask students why a 50-foot-wide image of the front of their school was projected Thursday night behind Sen. John McCain as he accepted the Republican Party's presidential nomination. He got some good guesses: Sixth-grader Joshua Popue offered the explanation most commonly being floated Friday both at the Irvine Avenue campus and in political circles: Somebody in the McCain campaign mistook Walter Reed Middle School for the military's troubled Walter Reed Army Medical Center when preparing the Republicans' high-tech video background wall. "McCain messed up. He was talking about Walter Reed hospital, and he used our picture by mistake," said 11-year-old Joshua. Skyla Swafford, 12, took a more charitable view. "They picked us because our school is one of the nicer schools in the city. They keep it clean and sanitary," the seventh-grader suggested. For the record, McCain's campaign is characterizing the use of the photo as a way of illustrating the candidate's call "for public education reforms that empower parents and students before bureaucrats and labor unions," as spokesman Tucker Bounds put it. Read Bob's full story here. -- Shelby Grad ...