Linky: Does Obama still smoke? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board
Apparently, whether or not he still smokes is a “polarizing issue”. What the fuck is polarizing about it?
His personal habits don’t have a damn thing to do with this or any other issue, any more than his preferred cold medicine is relevant to how he’ll run the FDA.
Buncha fucking nosy idiots.
You need a hobby.
It’s a gateway drug. Next thing you know he’ll be climbing out of the Lincoln bedroom window and drinking with his cabinet friends.
Do you really want someone in the throes of a nicotine fit with his finger on the BUTTON!?!?!?!
Do you?
Those damn Soviets will be at our door any second now, I tell ya!
Apparently he cares enough to have quit once he decided to run for president. He would be asked about it constantly by the press and in the debates if continued his habit. And I doubt he’d have been nominated to run for the Democrats, much less be able to win in the general.
I’m pretty anti-smoking… but I don’t give a fig if he smokes. I’m not electing him on the basis of his personal habits.
Now, if he were running on some anti-smoking platform, but continued to smoke, I’d be very bothered by his hypocrisy. But he’s not, and so I’m not.
You’re joking, right?
No.
Why do you think he decided to quit?
I care. If he isn’t smart enough to quit smoking, why should he be allowed to run the country?
Because smoking is bad for you?
Like it or not, someone who is POTUS is a role model, and smoking is not a good habit for anyone to emmulate. Personally, I don’t really care one way or another, *if * he smokes, but I wouldn’t want him to smoke publicly. Does that make any sense? As a role model, he should set a good example at least in the public eye.
If a former smoker has an occasional smoke during an incredibly stressful campaign (or for that matter, term in office), I really don’t have a problem with it. Obama has shown no other signs of stress whatsoever, as far as I can tell. If a few cigarettes help him, that works for me.
Clinton quite openly smoked cigars; what’s the difference?
Why should I care whether he smokes? So, he’s got a bad habit. Some people smoke, some people eat too much, some people pick their noses, some people grab their crotches. Why should any of that matter to a voter?
Because he has two children who look up to him and he wants to be a proper role model for them?
Just a coincidence that he did this at the beginning of his campaign? Yeah, right.
Not openly. It was a big deal when some photographer snapped a picture of him thru a WH window smoking a cigar.
But cigars are viewed somewhat differently in our culture. The occasional cigar isn’t seen in the same light as the 2-pack-a-day habit. Silly? Maybe. But that’s reality.
Oh, come on.
Everyone has the right to one character flaw. If smoking’s Obama’s, then he’s better off than most of us.
What, you guys want a saint for president?
Yes, because she knew he would have to quit if, as your cite says, she “outed” him.
I am pretty anti-smoking, and not necessarily an Obama fan, but even I don’t care if he smokes. Not even if he said he was quitting and didn’t. It’s an addiction, I understand that, and it’s not easy to just up and quit.