The Spectre over the Campaign: Enough Verbal Tomfoolery

It's been a fear--unspoken in the public square, but much discussed in private--that Senator Obama's groundbreaking campaign puts his life in danger. It was widely discussed within the African-American community and political circles. It is thought that it was Mrs. Powell's security concerns that prevented her husband, General Powell, from running for President. Senator Obama was the earliest candidate to receive Secret Service protection for obvious reasons. By comparison, John McCain did not ask for or receive protection until he had become the presumptive nominee of his party.

Further complicating his groundbreaking status as a black candidate, Senator Obama's charismatic personality and inspirational campaign have tied him to several mythical figures in American politics--Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Robert F. Kennedy and, occasionally, Ronald Reagan. What, I wonder, do all these men have in common? Ronald Reagan was the only one of these men to survive an attempt on his life.

It is therefore unconscionable and way beyond the pale, for anyone to feign ignorance on the genuine fears around Senator Obama's security. Governor Huckabee was the first to make light of these fears by making what can only be termed an idiotic joke at, of all places, the National Rifle Association convention. He followed it with an apology and few in public impugned any ill intention on his part. Not to be outdone, Hillary Clinton submitted her bizzare reference to RFK's assassination in justifying her continued presence on the campaign trail. Many, but not all, fair-minded people considered it an ill-considered choice rather than an ill-intentioned one. Mrs. Clinton, however, denied the need to apologize to Mr. Obama. Now, a Fox commentator in a bid to correct her misstatement of Obama as Osama, thought it wise to throw in a joke about the need to eliminate both men. She has followed through with an apology.

Enough of this foolishness. It is well documented that most assassinations are credited to people who are insane. These, therefore, are people who might read more into these slips of the tongue than the speaker intended. Of all the culprits, the only one who has not seen it fit to recognize the danger of her words is Hillary Clinton. She needs to acknowledge that the outrage at her comments came out of a genuine place of fear. And to everyone else out there including the Obama campaign, please stop comparing the Senator to bunch of dead men, no matter how inspirational they were.