Herman Cain Gets Secret Service Protection To Protect Him From...The Media? UPDATE: Cain's Camp Denies

If agents are going to jump on Cain every time he says something stupid, they are all going to spend a lot of time on the ground.

Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon said Thursday night that the campaign asked for the protection after The Washington Post posted an article online that morning detailing a series of physical skirmishes involving journalists at Cain rallies

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On the campaign trail, Cain “draws anywhere from a dozen to 50 media at his events," Gordon said. "When he gets out at a rally or a campaign stop, it has been increasingly common for media to be physically putting themselves and others in danger by trying to follow him with a lot of heavy equipment and cameras in close quarters like we saw yesterday."

Maybe there's a more sinister and legitimate reason for this. After all, I doubt the Secret Service would agree to this just to protect Cain from himself.

But again this just shows the amateurish nature of Team Cain. Why give people this talking point? All they had to say was, "A request was made for Secret Service protection for Mr. Cain. We thank the members of Congress and the administration charged with making the decision for agreeing to our request. We look forward to working with the dedicated professionals at the Secret Service who do so much for our nation. Beyond that, the campaign will have no comment on matters of security". See? Not so hard.

Update: What they should have said yesterday, today.

Herman Cain's campaign is pushing back against the suggestion it requested Secret Service protection as a way to keep media at bay and limit the access reporters will have to the candidate.

"It has nothing to do with the media, it has nothing to do with reporters," campaign spokesman J.D. Gordon said of the request for Secret Service protection.

Gordon said the campaign had requested protection "a couple weeks ago" after having received a series of threats. But Gordon said he would not comment on the nature of the threats or any specific instances.

For me this story wasn't about the protection itself. If Cain needs it and the Secret Service agrees, then give it to him.

The issue, as it so often is with Team Cain, is basic competence. Even if they did want it to manage the press, don't say it out loud.

People were under the impression the request was because of the media not from thin air but from Cain's spokesman. That's on them, not the people who listened to them.

posted by DrewM. at 01:27 PM

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