Wrong way to get the Senator's attention.

I was in Asia last week when a disturbed male walked into the Rochester, NH campaign office of Hilary Clinton and held staff hostage saying that he had a bomb strapped to his body. For some, it highlighted the fact that campaign workers are fairly much "lone-gunning" it out there and they could do well to excercise caution and realize that they are not bulletproof. As Ms. Parker suggests; they should follow their intuition and listen to their "inner voice" as talked about in Gavin DE Becker's book; "The Gift of Fear".

It was interesting to note that one local blogger was convinced right from the beginning that the crisis would end peacefully and he even stuck his neck out well in advance and made the call. It seems that this is some kind of NH modus operandi. Crazed people giving up peacefully - not local people sticking their necks out.

There were even those who viewed the whole incident as a positive for Senator Clinton and spoke about how it made her seem "Presidential". That is all well and good but this could have just as easily turned out much worse and then we would be talking about the casualties instead of the way that a politican had "kept their cool".

As a security person, I view the incident as a reminder that people operating in the limelight should always be careful and cautious as you never know how many enemies may be mixed in along with the fans. John Lennon and RFK are two prime examples. The question of responsibility for the safety and security for one's employees, even at the voluntary level, should always be in the forefront and not relegated as an after-thought. Many employers all over the country who do not provide adequate protection for their workforce and clients are leaving themselves exposed to huge liability.

Perhaps it is not unreasonable to suggest that each candidate's campaign office should have a security person to watch over the people who are out there working hard - sometimes too hard to even stop to think of their own vulnerability. If a person has their head down all day making and receiving calls and running in and out of offices, they can not really be expected to be able to concentrate on the manners and body language of those visiting their offices.

Afterall, Senator Clinton is protected by one of the most professional security teams in the world, every minute of the day. Maybe she should give some thought to the welfare of those who are out there giving of their time in an effort to help her get back into the White House.