New Republic, sensing Hillary is now in third place behind Obama and Edwards, does its part to take down her opponents. The latest... revelation that Obama... gasp ... wait for it... SMOKES.
Barack Obama's revelation that he is thinking about a 2008 run for president set off a predictable flurry of prognostications this week. Politics-watchers have speculated about how the electorate would react to everything from his youth to his pigmentation to his acknowledgement that he had messed around with marijuana and "maybe a little blow." But a far more interesting, if less legally dicey, bullet point was buried in a few of the recent stories about the Illinois senator's ambitions: Obama is a cigarette smoker.
Implications? In extended...
NR puts a seemingly innocent spin on this:
Actuarially foolish and hopelessly out of fashion, it is a behavior that, at least in an overachiever like Mr. Obama, seems to assuage our national discomfort with overt ambition. How much of a striver can he be if he's also a smoker?"
Political Insider (Helvidus) quotes above and disagrees:
We live in a strange time when admitting to using cocaine in your memoir may be less of a political liability than legally smoking cigarettes. I suspect this minor character flaw has the potential to rattle some of Obama's potential supporters.
I'm with Helvidus on this. In fact, the front page of Kos today made that very clear: how can we trust Guiliani with national security secrets when he can't even keep from leaking his campaign plans? Ditto, Obama's ciggies-- it will be seen as a character flaw: if you can't quit smoking, how do you find the inner strength to stand resolute against America's enemies?
A stretch? Remember the swift boaters? If Obama quits, maybe he can turn it into a kind of Huckabee "triumph over habit" story. Which brings up an important point:
Who will Obama be running against? Money is on McCain or Huckabee. Both of whom have personal experiences (McCain prison camp, Huckabee fat camp) which speak to overcoming. Obama has some of that in his own story. Will the smoking overshadow?
What do you think? Take the poll.