If anyone here hasn't read Barack Obama's first book, Dreams of my Father, you might not know that he did a lot of drugs when he was in high school and early in college.
Lois Romano wrote an an article in the Washington Post today about it.
Here's the quote
In the book, Obama acknowledges that he used cocaine as a high school student but rejected heroin. "Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though," he says.
Ok, so what? He's upfront and honest. Good for him for disclosing this openly unlike the sorry excuses from our two previous presidents
As a presidential candidate, Bill Clinton thought marijuana use could be enough of a liability in 1992 that he felt compelled to say he had not inhaled. And President Bush has managed to deflect endless gossip about his past by acknowledging that he had an "irresponsible" youth but offering no details.
more on the flip
Anyway, the thing that has me writing on the open thread late at night is this:
As a potential candidate, Obama has presented himself as a fresh voice offering a politics of hope. Many say he offers something new in American politics: an African American with a less-than-traditional name who has so far demonstrated broad appeal. What remains to be seen is whether the candor he offered in his early memoir will be greeted with a new-style acceptance by voters.
Remains to be seen? By Whom? Who is doing the asking here? And here's the real kicker
It was not so long ago that such blunt admissions would have led to a candidate's undoing, and there is uneasiness in Democratic circles that "Dreams From My Father" will provide a blueprint for negative attacks.
OK Lois, just who is uneasy about his honesty? Why are they hiding behind you? There are some who say that this could be the work of Hilary Clinton's minions... There are some who say that it could be the work of any other candidate, or even a Republican..
Lois, I think you owe your readers the identity of the person hiding behind your shield of anonymity..
You shouldn't allow yourself to be used in this way. I think it's demeaning to you as a reporter to blindly assert unsourced stuff like this.
You should leave that to the Op-Ed columnists like the man of High Ethics himself, Bob Novak