Otterblog

A couple of people have told me about Barack Obama’s interview on 60 Minutes last night. Steve Kroft. wife on the sofa, etc. etc. What piqued my interest was the candidate’s discussion of tobacco policy. Not federal. But personal. Apparently, according to his wife, Sen. Obama had to promise to quit smoking in order to gain her blessing to run for president. Here’s the online version of the CBS story.

This is sort of interesting. We haven’t had a smoker in chief in a long time, and my guess is that smoking is somehow seen as a presidential liability, i.e. if they can’t quit, how are they going to have the fortitude to go toe-to-toe with Vladimir Putin and the Sunnis and Shiites etc. etc. Maybe. I don’t smoke, but I’m not sure smoking is the third rail of electability. We too often expect our presidents to be perfect and then we are utterly shocked to find out that they aren’t. If you elect a smoker, you know from the get-go that they are human.

Now for the important stuff, at least for our little town. Which is ... what brand did Sen. Obama smoke and—if you are to believe his promise—give up. I have a good friend who is an editor at the Chicago Tribune, and he asked around, and the answer is .... Marlboro.