Daily Mail‘s U.S. Executive Editor Toby Harnden was turned down by the Obama campaign Tuesday to attend an event with former President Bill Clinton in Miami. Clinton spoke to students at Florida International University. The campaign wrote the reporter to say, “Unfortunately, due to space limitations, we are unable to accommodate your request.”

Harnden was surprised to say the least. We asked if he thought it was personal. “I’ve no idea,” he told FishbowlDC. “They said in the original email that there were space constraints and that not everybody could be accommodated, but they often say that and this has never happened to me before. I’m a lone reporter who takes up about two square feet of ground and I work for the world’s most popular newspaper website so it’s a bit mystifying.”

Harnden did consider making a last minute trip to the Sunshine State. “Was going to fly down for event, but opted not to,” he said. “Response came so late though that I could well have been down there. Thankfully, I was waiting to be sure I had credentials before flying. Of course, there’s a decent chance I could have wheedled my way in at the event itself.”