Scope of Obama's Secret Service protection proves daunting

[RamboLiberal]

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Obama received Secret Service protection 18 months before the election, the earliest of any previously unprotected presidential candidate, in part because of concerns about racially charged rhetoric that had been directed at him.

"The fact that this is an African American is not lost on us," Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley says. "We understand that this is a historic event; we understand that this is different from other inaugurations. It is one additional piece that we factor into the plan."

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Former Secret Service agent Norm Jarvis, who was involved in the protection of four presidents, says the level of security for any president remains at a constant high — and that balancing the need for security with allowing public access to a president is a persistent challenge. There is a "built-in antipathy" for every president regardless of party affiliation among some members of the public and advocacy groups, he says.

With Obama, Jarvis says, agents assigned to the new president will feel an unspoken — but increased — pressure to shield America's first black chief executive. "I know agents are coming to grips with the fact that they have got to lay it on the line," he says.

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Ray Mey, a former FBI agent who helped with security for the 1997 Clinton inauguration, says the crowds that gathered during the 2007-08 campaign and Obama's close interaction with them signal the new president will be "a tough guy to protect."

"He likes to get out in the crowd," Mey says.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-12-14-obamasecurity_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

[Captain Hilts]

1. He - and Hillary - were a secret service nightmare. nt

[Cha]

2. Too bad about all the heinous

idiots in the world that makes this uber important.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. That's a fascinating article...

I am very heartened to hear of the SS efforts to protect Obama...

Thanks for posting this!

K&R