Every passing day spells danger for Barack Obama

Tonight, US presidential candidate Barack Obama squares off against his Republican opponent John McCain in the last presidential debate before Americans vote on November 4. There are 19 days left before the historic US election that could see an African-American elected to the highest office in America or the first woman vice-president in American history. Yet, each day spells increasing personal danger to Senator Obama who polls show has opened a 10-point lead over Senator McCain. To those responsible for protecting Obama from harm, the threat is real that some crazy fellows will take a shot at the candidate, wounding him or killing him altogether. Such an event, God forbid, would be an unimaginable tragedy of global proportion. Sadly enough, should this unthinkable tragedy occur, it will be just another addition to the dark side of America’s political life. Americans, after all, are no strangers to political violence and assassinations which date back more than a century. Nine American presidents including Andrew Jackson in 1835, Abraham Lincoln in 1865, James Garfield in 1881, William McKinley in 1901, Harry S. Truman in 1950, John F. Kennedy in 1963, Richard Nixon in 1974, Gerald Ford twice in September 1975, and Ronald Reagan in 1981 were the targets of assassination. Four—Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy—were killed by the assassins. The attempted assassinations of Gerald Ford within the span of a mere two weeks in September 1975 were made by would-be female assassins. In the first attempt, the gun failed to go off and the woman was arrested, while in the second attempt, a former serviceman may have saved Ford’s life by knocking the gun off target when the assassin fired the shot that whistled above Ford’s head. Assassination attempts were also made on the lives of president-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 and three presidential candidates—Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, and George Wallace in 1972. While Roosevelt and Wallace survived, Robert Kennedy died from shots fired by an Arab-American Sirhan Sirhan in a Los Angeles hotel. Other high profile assassinations include the murders of black Muslim preacher Malcolm X in February 1965 and civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. No doubt, Obama’s security detail, already one of the tightest ever around a presidential candidate was likely beefed up over the last two weeks, and for good reasons. Senator McCain trailing in the polls has opted for the nuclear option—launch blistering attacks on the character of Barack Obama. The opening salvo in this new attack strategy was fired by McCain’s vice-presidential running mate Sarah Palin. She accused Obama of “palling around with terrorists who would target their own country.” Governor Palin was referring to Obama’s relationship with distinguished Professor Bill Ayers of the University of Illinois at Chicago who was linked to the radical anti-war group the Weather Underground that bombed US Federal buildings including Capitol Hill and the Pentagon in the late 1960s and early 1970s. At the time Prof. Ayers committed the crime, Obama was just eight years old, and Ayers was an anti-war activist angry with US war in Vietnam. By the time Obama met Ayers, the latter was fully rehabilitated and was a respected professor of education, a job he holds to date. In other words, Governor Palin’s accusation that Obama was “palling around with terrorists” was not only false because the two men hardly know each other, it was also a blatant lie to give the impression that beside Ayers, Obama retains ongoing connections to other terrorists, say, Osama bin Laden. Now, Governor Palin may have been trolling for political points in order to win the elections in November. Unfortunately for her and the McCain campaign, the attack on Obama was the opening hate-mongers were waiting for and, within days, several were heard openly calling for Obama’s head with shouts such as “terrorist”, “kill him”. Last week, during a town hall meeting, a white woman told Senator McCain: “I don’t trust Obama, he is an Arab.” A startled McCain took the microphone from the woman and blurted: “I have to tell you, Senator Obama is a decent person and a person you don’t have to be scared of as president of the United States.” McCain’s defence of Obama comes too late after the Arizona senator himself set the hound-dogs after Obama. Just this past Monday, a supporter of McCain in Virginia Beach was seen holding the sign “Obama Bin Lyin”, a clear attempt to connect Obama to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. In the mind-eyes of some angry racist Americans, McCain has reinforced the view that Obama is America’s Enemy Number One who must be taken out at all cost. Though few, these fringe elements may now see it as a ‘patriotic’ duty to stop Obama from becoming president of America. While millions of Americans will use the ballot to try to stop Obama from becoming president next month, the increasing strength of Obama’s campaign coupled with desperation on the part of the handful of hateful individuals could inspire someone to try to silence the African-American candidate. That is the permanent threat Obama assumed when he began his quest for highest office in America, but one which the Secret Service must work hard to eliminate. Whether he wins or loses next month, Obama has brought fresh hope to millions—and nobody wants to see this hope snuffed away by an assassin’s bullet. Certainly, nobody with a straight thinking mind.