Dignitaries turn out for King tribute

ATLANTA, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Atlanta's mayor, speaking Monday at a tribute to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., noted historic changes that occurred since King's assassination.

Mayor Shirley Franklin noted the 2008 presidential hopefuls included "a former first lady, a Mormon, a Baptist preacher, and yes, a black man" of Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama, respectively, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Franklin and other notables crowded Ebenezer Baptist Church, the church where King and his father pastored.

Former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee, a Republican, was the second presidential candidate in as many days, as he sat in the audience for the Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Commemorative Service. Democratic hopeful Barack Obama spoke from the pulpit Sunday.

With former President Bill Clinton in the audience, Franklin took what seemed to be a political shot at the former president's comments about Obama's candidacy, the Journal-Constitution said. Franklin said the United States is on the "cusp of turning the impossible into reality. Yes this is reality, not fantasy or fairy tales."

Clinton recently caught criticism for using the term "fairy tale" to describe Obama's depiction of his stance on the war.

King was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis after leading the U.S. civil rights movement for years.