# 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:** 4
**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 23, 2008, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/61 "2008-07-23T01:49:42Z")
Hyperbole much, **levdrakon**? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/62 "2008-07-23T02:00:59Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] Seriously, is there _anything_ Obama could do or not do to make you question your vote? Anything at all? [/QUOTE] Yes. But smoking isn’t one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/63 "2008-07-23T02:06:39Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] Obamists just slay me. … Seriously, is there _anything_ Obama could do or not do to make you question your vote? Anything at all? [/quote] I don’t know, but not for lack of the Republican spin machine _looking_ for something. They’re desperate to get some primo dirt on Obama that _would_ make voters question him. > [@hypothetical Republican spinmeister](#): > > And… and… he’s black! No? Well, so’s his _wife!_ Oh. And … and … she’s his _baby mama._ Get it? Because they’re black. And sometimes, if you look at his fist-pumping thing in the right light and squint your eyes, he looks like a terrorist. Plus, he might be Muslim, you never know. He could be a Commie, too. AND, get this, he smokes! > > No? You’re not changing your mind? Okay, give us a minute, we’ll think of something. > > Please vote McCain? Please? He’s not Bush, really and truly. The swiftboat blather gets very tiresome, seriously. About as tiresome as the Bush Bashing, I’ll bet, except this is much more desperate — Obama hasn’t _done_ anything to merit bashing yet. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/64 "2008-07-23T02:23:50Z")
If anything, smoking should help his electoral chances. The blue collar crowd, which has more smokers proportionally, could presumably identify more easily with a smoker. I think he should smoke hand rolls, in a booth to protect others from second hand smoke, and then people can wonder just what exactly he’s smoking. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/65 "2008-07-23T03:09:25Z")
[QUOTE=Lightnin’] Hyperbole much, **levdrakon**? [/QUOTE] The baby raping part? Yeah, I thought that was pretty obvious. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/66 "2008-07-23T03:29:23Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] Ridiculous. People have known for generations that smoking is bad for you. He’s running for public office. He’s not running to be your dad. I don’t drink alcohol and I think that on balance alcohol plays a negative role in society. It would be idiotic for me to insist that all public officeholders abjure from consumption of alcohol in order to qualify as “role models.” We’re adults in this society and we should treat office holders as what they are – fellow adult persons – not candidates for personal hero. [/QUOTE] Yeah. It’s a non-issue to me, and I am decidedly fence-sitting on this election until the debates between them occur. I smoke cigarettes and I hate it. I know I should quit, I want to quit, but…well, you know. But that doesn’t make me less of a person nor does it mean Obama can’t be a good President. Nobody has seen Obama smoke publicly, so he hides it. Big deal. Whatever. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/67 "2008-07-23T11:29:42Z")
[QUOTE=jtgain] Mother: I’ve I catch you with those cigarettes again, you will be grounded, Mister. Boy: Why? The President smokes. [/QUOTE] You’ve never met an actual kid, have you? They are not, as a rule, terribly influenced by the president, thanks be to whatever god you prefer. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/68 "2008-07-23T16:06:51Z")
Well, to give **jt** credit, kids are, while not in the least influenced by what the President does, perfectly willing to use him/her as justification. Or anyone else who comes along. For anything up to and including axe-murder. I’m sorry, but “won’t anyone think of the children?” doesn’t have any traction with me as an argument when it comes to things that don’t actually affect, you know, children. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/69 "2008-07-23T16:21:00Z")
The presidents personal, legal habits are of little interest to 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 23, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/70 "2008-07-23T16:23:24Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] Seriously, is there _anything_ Obama could do or not do to make you question your vote? Anything at all? [/QUOTE] Um… sure. Smoking _crack_, for example. Invading Canada (or pretty much any other state). Appointing Carrot Top to the Cabinet. Promoting faith-based initiatives with public tax dollars. Murdering anyone I like. The list is probably really, really long, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/71 "2008-07-23T16:27:05Z")
Hmm, a costly illegal war… A energy crisis… A mortgage crisis… A Presidency that has lied, that has politicized the judiciary, and hastrampled the Constitution… An incredibly weak dollar… …and I am supposed to care about the fact thtat Obama smokes? _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/72 "2008-07-25T16:09:44Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Hitler’s body was a temple. [/QUOTE] Not quite, according to historians. He was pretty well hopped up on amphetamines and similar drugs, possibly including cocaine. The problem with Obama’s smoking is that it becomes a possible smear tactic for his opponents, what with smoking being so marginalized now. Fortunately for Democrats, Republicans do not seem particularly eager to exploit this, probably since IIRC the tobacco states are heavily Republican. Some anti-tobacco PSAs you see nowadays are strikingly similar to the anti-alcohol publicity of a century ago. Both campaigns even have their own little mascots; the Prohibitionist cartoonists used a little chubby liquor bottle with a crown on top–“King Rum”, and a recent anti-smoking campaign used a cartoon dragon to represent tobacco. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/73 "2008-07-25T16:14:51Z")
[QUOTE=DianaG] You’ve never met an actual kid, have you? They are not, as a rule, terribly influenced by the president, [/QUOTE] Maybe not, but they’ll be ready to hang on any conceivable argument showing that you’re wrong and they’re right. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/74 "2008-07-25T16:46:34Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] Next thing you know you’ll be trying to find out what religion he belongs to … [/QUOTE] Oh, thats an easy one. Everybody knows he’s a Muslum. I heard it on the TV box. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/75 "2008-07-25T17:14:51Z")
I’m pretty sure I read it in _New Yorker_. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/76 "2008-07-26T00:22:38Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] Because the POTUS should be an exceptional individual. If he doesn’t have the willpower to quit smoking, what else will he lack the willpower to do? [/QUOTE] Exactly. Now, it’s hardly a critical point that would change my vote to McCain, but it isn’t trivial, either. It shouldn’t cost him a lot of votes, but just a few in the wrong state could cost him the election. And, _he knows this._ And, he knows it’s bad for him and \*his wife and family want him to stop. \*So why \*doesn’t \*he stop? Lack of willpower? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/77 "2008-07-26T00:23:56Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] If the odd smoke was good enough for your [greatest President ever](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josiah_Bartlet), it’s good enough for Obama. [/QUOTE] Every puff bought and paid for by Big Tobacco, IMHO. What a dream image for them! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/78 "2008-07-26T00:27:26Z")
[QUOTE=Gatopescado] Oh, thats an easy one. Everybody knows he’s a Muslum. I heard it on the TV box. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but as long as he doesn’t do it in public, I don’t think it should matter. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2008, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/79 "2008-07-26T00:36:52Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] Exactly. Now, it’s hardly a critical point that would change my vote to McCain, but it isn’t trivial, either. It shouldn’t cost him a lot of votes, but just a few in the wrong state could cost him the election. And, _he knows this._ And, he knows it’s bad for him and \*his wife and family want him to stop. \*So why \*doesn’t \*he stop? Lack of willpower? [/QUOTE] Cite that he hasn’t stopped? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2008, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372/80 "2008-07-26T01:36:55Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] Exactly. Now, it’s hardly a critical point that would change my vote to McCain, but it isn’t trivial, either. It shouldn’t cost him a lot of votes, but just a few in the wrong state could cost him the election. And, _he knows this._ And, he knows it’s bad for him and \*his wife and family want him to stop. \*So why \*doesn’t \*he stop? Lack of willpower? [/QUOTE] Nearly every smoker I’ve ever discussed the issue with has said they want to quit, yet few of them do. Or rather, almost all of them quit. Over, and over, and over again. Generally not for very long. A reasonable person might conclude that the stuff is addictive or something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gives-a-fuck-if-obama-smokes/457372.md?page=5)