Secret Service Assigns Protection To Senator Barack Obama

The Department of Homeland Security confirms that the Secret Service has assigned a security detail to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois), who is running for the 2008 presidency. It is the earliest security assignment for a candidate in a presidential campaign. Usually protection is not provided until a party chooses its nominee. A DHS official confirmed that a request came from Sen. Barack Obama's campaign after a threat. The official would not say anything about the reason for the protection or the nature of any threat or threats.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michaelf Chertoff authorized Sen. Obama's protection after consultations with the congressional advisory committee, according to Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the department. Eric Zahren, a spokesman for the Secret Service, would not provide details of what led to the extra security, but said that he was not aware of it being "based on any threat."

Sen. Obama's rival for the presidency, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-New York), already has a Secret Service detail that is provided to all former first ladies.

My response: As I told my aunt in the car just moments ago when we heard the story on the car radio, white folks are starting to cut up about his candidacy. This is like an old episode of "24" from Season 1, when the fictional Sen. David Palmer (played by the handsome Dennis Haysbert) was running to become America's first black president. Let's hope that Sen. Obama does not meet the same horrible fate.