Apr 4, 2008 1:49 pm US/Eastern
McCain To Get Secret Service Protection
Republican Is Only Major Candidate To Not Have Secret Service Protection
MEMPHIS (CBS) ―
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John McCain celebrates with his wife Cindy, and daughter Meghan McCcain after winning the Republican New Hampshire primary Jan. 8, 2008, in Nashua, New Hampshire.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
CBS News has confirmed that presumptive GOP nominee John McCain plans to take on Secret Service protection beginning next week.
As the Washington Post reported today, McCain had not previously requested such protection. The two contenders for the Democratic nomination, Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, presently have "round-the-clock" Secret Service protection. Obama requested protection last year, and Clinton is afforded it as a former first lady.
Under federal law, presidential candidates can request protection if they meet standards related to their public prominence.
McCain told Fox News on Friday that he would meet with agency officials next week to work out the details of his protection.
"I think that it's important as we get more and more visibility, that we recognize the inevitable. And so we will be talking with them early to arrange for very soon, some Secret Service protection," McCain said in an interview that will air Sunday.
The Arizona senator said he had previously been unenthusiastic about having a Secret Service detail because it complicated efforts to have close contact with voters.
As the Post notes, McCain travels with private bodyguards and employs private security staff to screen reporters and staffers on charter planes. But McCain's security "pales in comparison" to that provided to Clinton and Obama.
Asked by CBS News if McCain's decision to accept Secret Service protection was prompted by media reports exposing his lack of a detail, McCain advisor Charlie Black said, "it's very unfortunate that they would report on who has coverage and who doesn't. But I am not an expert on security. We don't believe in talking about security in public at all."
The decision comes a day after Secret Service director Mark Sullivan told the House Appropriations Committee, in an open meeting, that McCain had yet to request a detail.
"Statutorily, he is not required to take protection," Sullivan said. "As far as an actual request, we have not gotten one. We have no involvement at this point."
In November, according to the Post, McCain said "It's my intention, if we win this nomination, to reject Secret Service. . . . Why do I need it?"
"The day that the Secret Service can assure me that if we're driving in the motorcade and there's a guy on a rooftop with a rifle, that they can stop that guy, then I'll say 'fine,'" McCain added. "But the day they tell me, 'Well, we can't guarantee it,' then, fine, I'll take my chances."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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