# Who gives a fuck if Obama smokes? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 22, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372 "2008-07-22T15:12:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/1 "2008-07-22T15:12:18Z")
Linky: [Does Obama still smoke? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=476403) 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. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/2 "2008-07-22T15:24:29Z")
You need a hobby. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/3 "2008-07-22T15:26:24Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/4 "2008-07-22T15:30:07Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/5 "2008-07-22T15:34:16Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/6 "2008-07-22T15:41:15Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/7 "2008-07-22T15:42:24Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] And I doubt he’d have been nominated to run for the Democrats, much less be able to win in the general. [/QUOTE] You’re joking, right? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/8 "2008-07-22T15:43:08Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] You’re joking, right? [/QUOTE] No. Why do you think he decided to quit? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/9 "2008-07-22T15:45:47Z")
I care. If he isn’t smart enough to quit smoking, why should he be allowed to run the country? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/10 "2008-07-22T15:48:54Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] No. Why do you think he decided to quit? [/QUOTE] Because smoking is bad for you? ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/11 "2008-07-22T15:51:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/12 "2008-07-22T15:52:35Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/13 "2008-07-22T15:52:52Z")
[QUOTE=Hockey Monkey] 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. [/QUOTE] Clinton quite openly smoked cigars; what’s the difference? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/14 "2008-07-22T15:56:30Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/15 "2008-07-22T16:04:24Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] No. Why do you think he decided to quit? [/QUOTE] Because he has two children who look up to him and he wants to be a proper role model for them? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/16 "2008-07-22T16:06:18Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] Because smoking is bad for you? [/QUOTE] Just a coincidence that he did this at the beginning of his campaign? Yeah, right. > [@](#): > > Clinton quite openly smoked cigars; what’s the difference? 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. ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/17 "2008-07-22T16:08:02Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] No. Why do you think he decided to quit? [/QUOTE] [His wife.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/11/AR2007021101336.html) > [@](#): > > CHICAGO, Feb. 11 – Michelle Obama says she agreed to help her husband run for president on one condition: That he finally quit smoking. For good. > > “I hate it,” she said on CBS’ 60 Minutes, according to a transcript released Sunday. “That’s why he doesn’t do it anymore. I’m proud to say. I outed him – I’m the one who outed him on the smoking. That was one of my prerequisites for, you know, entering this race, is that, you know, he couldn’t be a smoking president.” ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/18 "2008-07-22T16:10:02Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/19 "2008-07-22T16:13:23Z")
[QUOTE=grayhairedmomma] [His wife.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/11/AR2007021101336.html) [/QUOTE] Yes, because she knew he would have to quit if, as your cite says, she “outed” him. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/20 "2008-07-22T16:28:24Z")
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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372.md?page=2)