Cigarette break

With presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s new pledge to quit smoking plastering headlines, he has more than his political career on the line. \nThe problem is that this might not have been the battle to publicize. With prospects of being America’s first black president, driving the executive branch a hard left turn from its current course and remedying an already volatile international scene, he’s looking at enough pressure to have a difficult time holding a strong public face.\nTack on overcoming a health hurdle that some doctors parallel to a heroin addiction, and he’s in for a rough year.\nObama’s wife and other close friends have urged him to quit for the election. “Quitting for the election,” however, is riddled with ambiguity and (as any prudent political media release is designed to do) it doesn’t yield any solid information about Obama’s actual thoughts on the matter. \nIt’s perfectly valid if he wants to quit for health reasons. We’ve all heard the stats – coronary heart disease and stroke are the first and third leading causes of death in the United States and are the primary cardiovascular problems caused by smoking.\nBut if he’s quitting for the sake of public opinion, in fear that the “smoker’s image” might work against him with certain voting demographics, it might not be worth the gamble. \nFirst, nicotine withdrawal throws a smoker into a state generally not desired for the mental stability of presidential candidates. Irritability, drowsiness and flulike symptoms persist afterward, and that’s independent of the cravings themselves. Perpetual stress over one’s internal struggle while dealing with a campaign trail is a fair-sized liability.\nAnd the unconventional predicament might actually work to his advantage. It’s a nice break to see a young, successful, up-and-coming politician with habits that provide stark contrast to the “public servant” image: It makes him a real person. Smoking is a release for him. Obama is reportedly a sporadic smoker, greatly increasing intake during times of stress, and going easy when routines aren’t as demanding.\nBut his form of stress-release is one held in common with an estimated 21 percent of Americans, according to the American Lung Association. And his struggle to quit shows him to be just as normal as every other person going to the polls. Voters very well may embrace this rare glimpse into the not-so-pretty side of politicians’ seemingly perfect lives. \nThe facet of John Kerry’s persona that proved devastating to his presidential hopes was voters’ professed inability to relate to the his white-collared, overly Ivy visage. Perhaps this imperfect side of Obama could make up for lost Democratic votes in 2004 on merit of simply relating to the populace. \nIronically enough, it was Hillary Clinton who originally pushed the ban on smoking in the White House in the early 1990s. Maybe we’re just looking at a particularly amusing issue of contention between the party’s two front-runners.\nAs for Obama – let the man have his ciggy break in peace. We all have our vices.