Yale on the Trail

MANCHESTER, N.H., 9:16 p.m. — At Senator Barack Obama’s rally at the Palace Theater yesterday, I recalled how the Secret Service ordered me to allow their bomb-sniffing dog to inspect my digital camera for fear that it might be something I could disassemble and fashion into a Howitzer. Convenient or not, everyone’s camera, bag, tripod, etc. had to be cleared by the dog before we could enter the theater.

But at Hillary Clinton’s LAW ‘73 rally yesterday at a school in Hampton, N.H., there was no security checking bags, etc. And tonight — with both Hillary and Bill Clinton LAW ‘73in attendence — there was no extra security, either. No one cared about my camera, or my bag, or anything.

What does that say about the level of concern for Senator Obama’s safety as he attempts to become America’s first African-American president?

— Thomas Kaplan