Clinton Raises Subject of RFK Assassination

Hillary Clinton evoked the memory of Bobby Kennedy and his assassination 40 years ago when being interviewed by the editorial board of the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Argus-Leader today.

Clinton has been campaigning in South Dakota, where Democratic and Republican voters will hold their primaries on June 3.

A friend of mine alerted my attention to this earlier this afternoon, e-mailing me a link to the New York Post, which may have been responsible for breaking the news. Thanks for the tip, Doug.

Geoff Earle reports in the New York Post that Clinton apparently was trying to justify her decision to remain in a race that many political observers are now saying is a done deal.

"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right?" the Post quotes Clinton as saying. "We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it."

Barack Obama's campaign apparently understood enough, issuing a statement that said Clinton's comment "was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign."

Earle writes that sources have said that Obama "has faced threats" in this campaign. The language is a bit guarded, but judging from the response of his campaign to Clinton's remarks, I'd say the "threats" have almost certainly included assassination threats.

Those remarks from Clinton may have been off hand, but they seem to be a little close to home.

Recently, I have mentioned the possibility of assassination in relation to the selection of a running mate. It is not a pleasant subject, but it is a subject that any potential president must consider.

What is "unfortunate" about this is that the subject of Bobby Kennedy's assassination nearly 40 years ago was brought up only a few days after we learned that his brother Ted has a malignant brain tumor.

Of course, one doesn't render such threats as meaningless by ignoring them. One renders them meaningless by improving security and taking the appropriate steps to prevent an attack.

Even so, such threats can't be rendered totally meaningless.

If you're determined to take someone's life and you're willing to exchange your own to accomplish it, your chances of success are pretty good.

So, unless Obama and his campaign staff are hopelessly naive, they have long since taken steps to prepare their security for anything.

If they haven't, they should be dismissed immediately and Obama should replace them with people who will take security seriously.