Obama skips King pilgrimage

MEMPHIS | Campaigns in Indiana as Hillary, McCain visit key sites

Alone among the three presidential candidates Friday, Sen. Barack Obama decided against a personal pilgrimage to the city of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s death on the 40th anniversary of King's assassination.

Queried about his absence in an NBC News interview Friday night, Obama responded that he chose to campaign in Indiana, where he said King's pleas have yet to be answered fully.

» Click to enlarge image

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., speaks about the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the 40th anniversary of his assassination at a town hall meeting at Wayne High School in Fort Wayne, Ind., Friday, April 4, 2008. Obama alluded to another leader gunned down in 1968, Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.
(AP)

He said he had spoken to King's family Friday morning, and "I think they are aware of how important I believe the legacy of Dr. King is. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him."

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke in the church where King delivered his final sermon on the eve of his death.

Speaking at the Lorraine Motel where King was shot, GOP Sen. John McCain told a black audience that he had been wrong to vote against legislation making King's birthday a holiday.

Sun-Times wires