Fineman: Keeping Obama Safe -Why we’re all relieved that the Secret Service is protecting the

[Pirate Smile]

Democratic candidate.

Keeping Obama Safe
Why we’re all relieved that the Secret Service is protecting the Democratic candidate.

Web-Exclusive Commentary
By Howard Fineman
Newsweek
Updated: 2:02 p.m. CT May 4, 2007

May 4, 2007 -

-snip-
Now, after growing concern about the vast size and unruly enthusiasm of Obama’s crowds (and some disturbing, threatening chatter on the Internet), the Secret Service has decided to offer early protection to the first African-American with a genuine chance of becoming president. Obama’s campaign made the request, but it didn’t take the Feds long to agree, especially since Obama’s rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, has long had such protection as a former First Lady.

I talked to my fellow reporters here about this last night, and they were uniformly relieved. So was I. For all of his Ivy League polish and connections, there is an innocence, almost a naiveté, to Obama and his campaign. (Except for Michelle, his wife, who is as coolly realistic and hard-eyed as they come.) I doubt that there is a reporter who hasn’t thought, fully consciously or not, at one time or another, that the Obama story could take a tumultuous turn.

His February announcement pageant in Springfield, Ill., was, looking back on it, a security disaster waiting to happen. Even with the help of a few private security guards deployed by the campaign itself, the Illinois state and local police did not have an easy time herding and controlling the huge throng that turned out for the event. The hotel lobby was a crush of people that at times overwhelmed the private guards. The candidate and his wife and young daughters had a hard time getting through the crowd to their rooms. The kids did not look happy, and Michelle looked more than a little annoyed.

It was a joyful scene, but on the edge of scary.
Veteran reporters of a certain vintage, survivors of the ’60s, tend to see the world in terms of “Kennedys and King,” and Obama’s supporters often tend to see him as a blend of the two great families. We have miles to go before we know whether Obama deserves to be mentioned in that company in any sense, and he is careful not to overdo his reliance on the cadence and emotion of crusade. He knows he can uncork things, and is careful. Still, the echoes are there.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18493148/site/newsweek/

[Beausoir]

1. What a strange train of thought Fineman is experience.

Maybe I just read it wrong, but that almost sounded threatening.

And wtf is with the "Obama is naive and innocent" stuff?

[Frustratedlady]

2. I agree. Compared to veteran campaigners...

he is naive and innocent. Perhaps a better word would have been trusting. It's refreshing, but also scary. His crowds have to be making "others" very nervous. If anything happens to him, this country will be an inferno of anger.

[mnhtnbb]

3. If the SS is offering coverage to Obama, they should offer to Edwards as well

After all, it's the Edwards campaign that has dealt with TWO instances of powdery
substance being mailed to him. The first made it through to the campaign offices, the second was intercepted by the Post Office in Chapel Hill before being delivered.

[Connie_Corleone]

4. The Edwards' campaign needs to request SS protection if they want it.

[beaconess]

5. The Secret Service doesn't "offer" protection to anyone - it has to be requested

by either the President or by a Committee made up of the House and Senate majority and minority leaders, the Secretary of Homeland Security and a few others, based upon a determination that it is necessary.

Edwards had Secret Service protection for part of the primaries and during the general election campaign. I'm sure that if he believed protection was necessary, he would request it.

We need to stop making this a political issue by claiming that the Republicans are behind it or going into "Obama and Clinton have Secret Service protection, why doesn't MY candidate? It must be a CONSPIRACY!" mode.

Secret Service protection is more than a notion. It's also a pain in the ass and can severely hamper a candidate's ability to campaign the way they want to. It's an imposition on their movements, their families, and their ability to move freely and have any semblance of normalcy in their lives. No candidate rushes to get it if they don't feel it's absolutely necessary - obviously, Edwards doesn't think it is at this point.

[Pirate Smile]

7. Did you see this story I just posted:

CBSNews.com Turns Off Comments on Obama Stories



Today CBSNews.com informed its staff via email that they should no longer enable comments on stories about presidential candidate Barack Obama. The reason for the new policy, according to the email, is that stories about Obama have been attracting too many racist comments.

"It's very simple," Mike Sims, director of News and Operations for CBSNews.com, told me. "We have our Rules of Engagement. They prohibit personal attacks, especially racist attacks. Stories about Obama have been problematic, and we won't tolerate it."

CBSNews.com does sometimes delete comments on an individual basis, but Sims said that was not sufficient in the case of Obama stories due to "the volume and the persistence" of the objectionable comments.

-snip-
CBSNews.com has no plans to disable comments on stories about the other presidential candidates, according to Sims. As for comments on Obama stories, he said the site is open to eventually bringing them back.
"We'd like to be able to return to them, and I'm not ruling that out," said Sims. "But at this point it's not possible."

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/05/04/publiceye/entry2761854.shtml

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3251666&mesg_id=3251666

[Withywindle]

12. Yup. Are there really people who think that Obama wouldn't be a lightning rod

for the most vicious kind of racist hate? Sadly, none of this comes as a shock to me, and I've been worried about him for a long time, and I'm glad he's got the SS protection. I'm glad Hillary has it too, because she's a lightning rod for vicious misogynist hate in a similar way.

Are there still people who think that tall-poppy syndrome isn't real, that racism and misogyny of the crudest, most violent kind aren't still rife in this country, and that a black person or a woman who dares to step out of "his or her place" in a dramatic way doesn't immediately become a target for that reason alone? It seems so obvious to me that Obama and Hillary are taking risks that white male candidates aren't, just by being who they are. Which is NOT to say they shouldn't do it--quite the contrary. But they deserve acknowledgement of that risk, and protection against it.

[mnhtnbb]

10. Not according to the story. See the quote 2nd line of post

"the Secret Service has decided to offer early protection to the first African-American"

[beaconess]

13. The story is wrong if it means that the Secret Service "offered" protection in the sense that it

initiated it. The Secret Service doesn't do that. If Fineman means that the SS "provides" protection, that's another thing. But Secret Service does not initate protection - they only provide it if it is requested and determined by a committee that it is necessary.

[lazer47]

6. What a unique Idea than to have your own SS watch the opposition

what a unique idea, I am just amazed, at how concerned the adminstration is about the opposition

[beaconess]

8. Oh, please!

This is getting ridiculous.

You obviously know nothing about the Secret Service or the men and women agents who put their lives on the line every day to guard their protectees - regardless of political affiliation.

But since when does anyone have to know anything to pontificate about it on the internet? But it's still ridiculous.

[Laurab]

9. Actually, the administration has nothing to do with it.

And the Secret Service protection was requested by Obama. The Secret Service has nothing to do with the administration, except to protect it. They don't have to like the person they're protecting, but their job is to protect them with their lives. I have a friend who was in the SS - he didn't particularly like the person he was protecting, but he did his job. It's not a political appointment, and has nothing to do with republics or democrats.

I imagine Obama requested the protection for good reason, and I'm glad he has it.

[beaconess]

14. Hear hear!

[hedgehog]

11. The phrase " He knows he can uncork things" is a holdover from the

60's when some suggested that the Kennedys and King inadvertently had a part in causing their own assassinations because they were so "hot". A "cooler" candidate such as Gene McCarthy who appealed to the intellect rather than the heart supposedly wouldn't have attracted an assassin's bullet. On the other hand, Jerry Ford, who had all the personality of a slice of Wonder bread, attracted at least two attempts on his life. The last few major assassination attempts have been motivated by a desire for publicity. I think any candidate who gets any news coverage should also get SS coverage. It's no guarantee of safety, but it's a start.