The Telescope

Issue Date: 5/19/08

Obama death threats don't matter

By Eric Walker

Lately, many voters have expressed concern that, should presidential candidate Barack Obama get elected, he would be shot. To be blunt, that is idiotic.

Claims have been made that he should drop out because the nation is still too prejudiced and intolerant of the alleged "lesser" races to allow a black man to rule the country - and that like fellow visionary Martin Luther King, Jr., he'll be quickly assassinated. Even higher-profile people like Nobel Prize-winner Doris Lessing have cautioned against voting Obama into office for this reason.

This is ridiculous. Yes, racism still exists, but that's no reason to not support a candidate. Whether it's Obama or not, this nation will surely eventually have its first black president, and no matter who it is, the same things will be predicted of him or her. We can't just keep using the same excuse for every black candidate, and keep running away from our fears.

Besides, presidents take security measures for a reason, and Obama is well aware of his potential plight: his Secret Service protection began earlier than any other presidential candidate's in history; this service is ordinarily not offered until February of the election year.

And just look at past presidents like Lincoln or Kennedy - any president can be struck down before his time, regardless of the perceptions of their race, and regardless of his security. Obama still offers a fresh perspective and the potential to do a lot of good for the country.

Obama certainly knew the risks involved when he began his campaign, and refusing to vote for him on such a basis does both his ideas and his bravery a great disservice.

Maybe he would end up a martyr, but perhaps that would at least open up the country's eyes. Even the worst-case scenario has its upsides. But honestly, that's hardly likely anyway, considering the evolutions in security and tolerance.

Kennedy and Lincoln were both killed before the Secret Service even existed. Security today is much tighter, and the risk is much lower. And with the job the Republicans have been doing lately, will even the crazed, conservative anti-reform types be that opposed to something different to do something so drastic?

Even the almost universally hated Bush and Nixon didn't get assassinated, after all, and the reception of Barack Obama has been far more positive.

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