MLK Service Veers into 2008 Politics

By Odette Yousef

Atlanta, GA – With Governor Mike Huckabee and former president Bill Clinton in attendance, politics weren't far from the minds of those gathered in Ebenezer Baptist Church's Heritage Sanctuary yesterday. It was the 40th commemorative service since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. died.

It was Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin who cut right to the political chase by saying that King's fight made today's crop of presidential candidates possible:

FRANKLIN: A millworker's son, a first lady, a mormon, a Baptist preacher. And even, ladies and gentleman, a black man.

And then, she took a shot squarely at the man sitting front of her former president Bill Clinton:

FRANKLIN: we are at the cusp of turning the impossible into reality. Yes, this is reality, not fantasy or fairy tale.

Franklin has endorsed Obama. Clinton has referred to aspects of Obama's campaign as fairy tale.

But when he took the podium, he echoed Franklin's larger point:

CLINTON: I mean how cool is it, you know? You have all these different people seeking the presidency. And, guess what? It's all possible because of Martin Luther King's vision of the beloved community.

Clinton's appearance followed Obama's Sunday address at Ebenezer.