. . . or must not, because he’s quitting his smoking. This is either the end of his campaign or it’s new and more meaningful beginning. I suppose it could play either way if he knows what he’s doing. But I can’t help but comment that I find it pathetic and gag-inducing. The only thing worse than this sort of thing is the kind of people who will eat it up and canonize him for it. Now he can do a public service ad or a sanctimonious appearance on Oprah and/or Sesame Street. Sigh . . . I don’t smoke but this is the kind of thing that makes me want to.
". . .pathetic and gag-inducing." The smoking or the quitting? If the latter, why on earth do you say that?
Nice to see that we’re focused on things that matter.
If we learned that John Edwards owned guns and liked to hunt (as Kerry did), would that make any real difference?
This piddling around with Obama the smoker versus Obama the nonsmoker is pathetic.
It is pathetic and gag-inducing because it shows this man will do literally anything a focus group tells him to do. Is it so wrong for Julie to want a genuine person whose personal habits aren’t shaped and reshaped on a daily basis, depending on how the political winds are blowing? If he flops over silly things like this, you can bet he won’t be very tough when faced with a hostile Congress or other world leaders.
Julie, do you also read the National Enquirer and watch "reality TV"? Both would seem to be at about your level of interest and acuity.
I agree with Julie. Smoking gave Obama a certain authenticity that Hillary and Edwards lacked. Smoking is politically incorrect. That he is now quitting damages that authenticity. Quitting smoking is politically correct.
To True Right and (the other) David: why isn’t this an appropriate thing to discuss and analyze? I grant that we shouldn’t limit ourselves to this level of discourse, but why should we exclude it?
Because it is of no interest. It has nothing to do with who Obama is, whether he would be a complete disaster or only a 90 percent disaster as president, or his chances of being elected or nominated.
On the negative for Obama, where’s his letter from the little girl, saying "Please quit, future president Obama!" He’ s doing this all wrong!
On the positive, if he ever has a Howard Dean freak-out, he can blame it on the difficulty of quitting. Maybe it will give him some edginess to go with his syrup.
David (the First): See my comments on John Moser’s TV post above. ;-)