Smoking Obama
Barrack Obama has been heavily attacked over the last the couple of days over his smoking habits.
The front runner for the US Presidential race has been an intermittent smoker for years, although at the height of his habit he only smoked a mere 7 or 8 cigarettes a day.
At the insistence of his wife he had promised to give up smoking before taking on the Presidential election. We are not privy to the exact conversation, but it seems a fair return in exchange for the stresses of being a President’s spouse – she can’t exactly expect his full attention for the net 4/8 years if he does win, and while he is running her every flaw will be examined under a microscope.
The main focus for Republican attacks on the potential President, who has been chewing nicotine gum to help wean him off his habit, has been on his occasional lapses – it appears that the President has fallen off the wagon several times, and has admitted to ‘bumming’ cigarettes off his at times.
His critics have argued this breaking of promises is bad precedent for the future.
The Ashtray Blog is not so sure. First, Presidents from Kennedy, a notorious womaniser, to the current George Bush, a former alcoholic who has been arrested for drunk driving, have had their vices – the odd cigarette seems mild in comparison.
Meanwhile, the slight weakness he has exposed in succumbing to the odd cigarette seems to make him more human.
Finally, if he is going to betray his promises, he might as well start now – rather than, as most politicians do, wait until he is in office!
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