1.21.2007
Racism, Personal Safety Factors in Obama's Deliberations (CNN.com)
POSTED: 8:25 a.m. EST, January 19, 2007
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Jesse Jackson says that as he shares fond memories of his 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns with Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, he also passes along memories of the ugly side.
"There was an antipathy to my running," Jackson said. "We received the most threats of any candidate ever."
Jackson aides and Secret Service officials from those days recall hate mail, racial slurs and death threats aimed at both the candidate and his family.
"I had the most sensitivity to the fact that we had to have security at home. The threats are very real," Jackson said. "Everyplace we went, Secret Service always on edge."
Obama, a Democrat elected to the Senate just two years ago, announced Tuesday on his Web site -- http://www.barackobama.com/ -- that he was forming a presidential exploratory committee.
Obama's aides are reluctant to discuss internal deliberations. But they did say that, of course, racism and security issues were among the factors Obama and his wife considered as they discussed the toll a presidential campaign would have on them and their two young daughters.
In the end, though, aides said, Obama was shaped by his experience in Illinois and his 2006 midterm campaign travels, and he believes that the political environment for blacks is much improved.
(More ... CNN > Politics)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Jesse Jackson says that as he shares fond memories of his 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns with Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, he also passes along memories of the ugly side.
"There was an antipathy to my running," Jackson said. "We received the most threats of any candidate ever."
Jackson aides and Secret Service officials from those days recall hate mail, racial slurs and death threats aimed at both the candidate and his family.
"I had the most sensitivity to the fact that we had to have security at home. The threats are very real," Jackson said. "Everyplace we went, Secret Service always on edge."
Obama, a Democrat elected to the Senate just two years ago, announced Tuesday on his Web site -- http://www.barackobama.com/ -- that he was forming a presidential exploratory committee.
Obama's aides are reluctant to discuss internal deliberations. But they did say that, of course, racism and security issues were among the factors Obama and his wife considered as they discussed the toll a presidential campaign would have on them and their two young daughters.
In the end, though, aides said, Obama was shaped by his experience in Illinois and his 2006 midterm campaign travels, and he believes that the political environment for blacks is much improved.
(More ... CNN > Politics)
Labels: 2008 election, CNN, Obama
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