Slog - Comments on "I've got the best protection in the world. So stop worrying." http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world Today's New York Times has a front-page story about the question that's been on a lot of people's minds: There is a hushed worry on the minds of many supporters of Senator Barack Obama, echoing in conversations from state to state, rally to rally: Will he be safe? Dominic linked to it earlier, but if you didn't already know Obama's Secret Service knickname is Renegade, you might have read right over the link. It's a fascinating piece--you learn that John Edwards didn't get Secret Service protection even though Obama and Clinton have had it for a while; that Obama has... Copyright 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:30:54 -0800 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:05:14 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Andrew Many people are going to jump on this that Obama is somehow clueless as to the danger he is in and so forth.

But I find it comforting that he is able to focus on the task at hand without being distracted by things he can not control or really do much about. FDR was famous for always going to bed every night on time for his 12 year stint in the White House and reportedly never had problems sleeping. AND he never talked about the assasination attemp on his life in Miami right after winning the election in 1932. (see Conrad Black's biography on FDR)

Obama is just one cool cucumber!

]]> Andrew http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946834 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946834 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:35:36 -0800 Comment by Mike in Iowa Good news for Renegade.

New poll from the American Research Group:
Texas: Obama 50%, Clinton 42%

Please let this hold up. My ability to take much more of the Clinton camp's wailing about its perceived victimhood is evaporating quickly.

]]> Mike in Iowa http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946835 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946835 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:37:23 -0800 Comment by Julie Clinton has Secret Service protection because she is a former First Lady, not because she is an at-risk presidential candidate. Just to clarify...

]]> Julie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946837 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946837 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:39:56 -0800 Comment by some dude i'm telling you obama can dodge bullets.

]]> some dude http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946838 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946838 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:42:12 -0800 Comment by steve “I was thinking about how I was starting to get a head cold and needed to make sure that I cleared up my nose before I got to the arena.”
That's the last line of the article. Think the author was trying to leave it open for a cocaine joke? Or am I twisted because that's what immediately popped into my head?

]]> steve http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946839 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946839 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:44:05 -0800 Comment by wondering so if a nominee dies before taking office....from any cause ...after the nomination but before inauguration....or after the nomination and before the voting...who becomes president?

]]> wondering http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946842 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946842 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:45:15 -0800 Comment by unPC @5
No; and yes, very much so.

]]> unPC http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946845 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946845 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:46:55 -0800 Comment by Andrew @6, the VP becomes President if the President elect dies prior to the inagural. If it is prior to the election I think party rules have it go to the running mate.

]]> Andrew http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946846 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946846 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:49:44 -0800 Comment by Cato Edwards did not have Secret Service protection because candidates usually have to hit a certain point in the delegate count where they look like a potential front runner. Before RFK you had to secure the nomination before getting Secret Service detail.

Obama on the other hand had lots of very violent threats e-mailed to him. Secret Service decided they should protect him.

Hillary gets Secret Service protection permanently as does her Husband because he was a POTUS.

]]> Cato http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946856 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946856 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:02:43 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle I worry far more about Huckabee being knocked off by one of Rove's agents than I do about Obama being in danger.

Even if McCain can then claim plausible deniability of it afterwards, it's still far more likely.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946878 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946878 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:17:30 -0800 Comment by Timothy I think it is poor journalism to continue talking about this. The media continues the thought, which then continues to grow.

I'd like to see the Stranger cease all discussion of assassination speculation. There's no need to fan the flames of whacko's out in the World.

]]> Timothy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946880 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946880 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:19:18 -0800 Comment by steve @7
Thanks. I worry about myself. I read blogs and blog-comments far too much. I think I'm turning into a dick.

]]> steve http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946901 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946901 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:33:56 -0800 Comment by Cascadian Edwards did not have Secret Service protection. I went to an Edwards event in Iowa just before Christmas and there was no formal security at all. I walked in the front door and maybe 40 feet to the hotel conference room he was speaking from. Aside from the burly union guys on stage, who were there for political and not security reasons, nothing. Afterward, I walked up to Edwards, shook his hand, and asked him a couple of questions. I had on a heavy winter coat that could easily have concealed a weapon. It kind of amazed me, really, but on the other hand is a candidate in that position really in any more danger than your average second-tier celebrity walking down the street? I doubt it.

The people who need protection have it, and have had it for months.

]]> Cascadian http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946968 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946968 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:11:20 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle I need protection from Jen Graves NSFW images just above this story.

Seriously.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946973 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c946973 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:14:36 -0800 Comment by Andrew @11, I totally second that motion. There seems to be a fetish with the Stranger staff saying Obama is going to get knocked off.

]]> Andrew http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c947010 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c947010 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:42:34 -0800 Comment by bakfiets @15 Count me in for thirds on this one. It's not like we can do anything about it (he's got the protection he's gonna get at this point) and the whacko element out there does definitely take requests on this sort of thing.

So just put a lid on it. *That* is in your power...

]]> bakfiets http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c947360 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c947360 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:43:17 -0800 Comment by onion Based on how much ya'all say that the country hates Hillary(you read it here on Slog, like "the most polarizing presidential candidate ever" and "wouldn't vote for her if she were running against Hitler"), I'm guessing she is in MUCH more danger than Obama.

]]> onion http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c947380 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/ive_got_the_best_protection_in_the_world#c947380 2008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:05:14 -0800