Hyperbole much, levdrakon?
Yes. But smoking isn’t one of them.
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.
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.
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.
The baby raping part? Yeah, I thought that was pretty obvious.
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.
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.
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.
The presidents personal, legal habits are of little interest to me.
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.
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
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.
Maybe not, but they’ll be ready to hang on any conceivable argument showing that you’re wrong and they’re right. 
Oh, thats an easy one. Everybody knows he’s a Muslum. I heard it on the TV box.
I’m pretty sure I read it in New Yorker.
Regards,
Shodan
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?
Every puff bought and paid for by Big Tobacco, IMHO. What a dream image for them!
Yeah, but as long as he doesn’t do it in public, I don’t think it should matter.
Cite that he hasn’t stopped?
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.