Herman Cain Gets Secret Service Protection

The Secret Service will start protecting Herman Cain on the campaign trail, reports CNN. He is the first GOP candidate to get the protection this election cycle, though neither the Cain camp nor Secret Service officials would specify whether any threats were made to the candidate. Under government guidelines, the agency protects "major" candidates starting about four months before the general election. It makes exceptions, though, typically when threats surface, notes CBS News. Then-candidate Barack Obama started getting protection in May 2007.

ABC News confirms the CNN scoop and says the Cain campaign approached Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano with the request. Click here to read about how Cain's meeting with a major New Hampshire newspaper fell through or here to read about his request for help in speaking "Cuban." (More Herman Cain 2012 stories.)