Obama ’08, brought to you by Nicorette If Barack Obama manages to kick his cigarette habit, it’ll be a coup for Nicorette. Questioned at a weekend press conference about whether he was still smoking, the candidate said he wasn’t. “I’ve been chewing Nicorette all day long,” he said. Of course, if Obama doesn’t succeed in staying off cigarettes, it’ll be an unusually public failure for Nicorette. While wishing Obama well in his effort to quit, AdFreak can’t help liking him all the more for having a vice that used to be common among politicians (think of FDR and his cigarette holder) but has become rare in the age of blow-dried, sanitized, poll-conditioned candidates. Indeed, if Obama does shed the habit, we wouldn’t mind seeing another candidate take it up. Why not Hillary Clinton? Admit it: You’d like her better if she started smoking. —Posted by Mark Dolliver

February 14, 2007 | Permalink

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» Tell Me, does Perception in Advertising Politics Equal Reality? from Design Minute- Hip Design, Photography and Music Links. A Valuable resource!
Recently I left a comment on Adfreak about Obama and Hilary. I am a Democrat and I am really excited as well as a little sick of the hype about Obama. He is the rock-star, and yet, for all his common sense, he smokes. Or at least, he did. So, if he wan... [Read More]

Tracked on Feb 14, 2007 5:26:54 PM

Comments

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I think Hilary does seem kind of funny. I think if she did smoke or did something of that nature, it would make he some more likable, and more human. And this is coming form a Democrat! I think that based on what he has said, for Obama to smoke is a direct signal that the best intentions and the best speeches dont' mean anything if he doesn't back it up. And yet, maybe he can, with the media glossing over his mistakes. Hey, it's the age of rehab, not accountablity. Even in advertising.

Posted by: Lawton Chiles | Feb 14, 2007 5:20:34 PM

You're right, I would like her better if she smoked. I might even vote for her if she smoked the kind. But no.

Posted by: David Burn | Feb 14, 2007 5:56:04 PM

The other odd thing about Obama, other than the smoking thing and the being-raised-Muslim-in Indonesia-for-a-while-thing is that he went through most of his teen and adult life with the perfectly American name "Barry" until someone somewhere decided that calling him "Barack" was a better idea. (Barack, which means "lightning" in Hebrew, is oddly enough, a fairly common Israeli name. But I digress)

If you think of him as "Barry Obama" it totally changes your perception of him, doesn't it?

Posted by: tangerine Toad | Feb 14, 2007 10:38:40 PM

Having lived in D.C. and worked on Capitol Hill, smoking is a common habit amongst many senators, congressmen and their staffers. Having moved to D.C. from San Diego, the significantly increased presence of smokers in public and private was definitely an interesting observation.

That said, I'm glad Obama is quitting... though I'm a Republican, I think he brings a lot to the table of discourse in the Federal government regardless of the Presidential race. Furthermore, his attempt to quit shows recognition that even as a candidate, he must set an example as a role model to the american public.

Posted by: Kevin Davis | Feb 15, 2007 1:15:54 AM

Smoking can help in the tobacco state primaries.
North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Connecticut.
Al Gore, in 1988, described his love affair with tobacco in every form to get
votes.
The last full-time presidential smoker, I guess, was FDR who flaunted his cigarette holder and Lucky Strikes.
Johnson chewed tobacco, but never let the camera catch his spittin'.
JFK smoked cigars, and Jefferson and Washington grew the stuff.
Seems Obama would be better off being true to himself by emulating past Presidents; he can just avoid inhaling like Clinton.

Posted by: Tom Messner | Feb 16, 2007 10:20:54 AM

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