I don't think that Obama's smoking makes him a bad person, but I DO think that it makes him less of a positive role model.  I taught at a school that was 96% African American and the kids there IDOLIZED Obama!  They adored him!  Can you imagine if one of them, or an older siblingthought, "I wanna be like Obama!  He smokes, so it's OK if I do."  Or, somebody thinking about quitting who sees him as a role model... either an adult or adolescent, "Quitting is SO hard!  Even President Obama is having a tough time with it and still smokes sometimes!  If HE can't quit, then there's no WAY that I'd be able to!  I'm not NEARLY as strong of a person as he is!"  I think his smoking is downright irresponsible given his  position.

I went back to school to get my teaching certification after I quit smoking.  One of the reasons I didn't get it before when I was in college was because I didn't want to be seen as a poor role model to those children.  I KNEW that they would be able to smell it on me, or perhaps see me out in public, possibly smoking, and didn't want to make smoking seem OK.  Quitting smoking is a personal choice, but at the same time, when you are in a position of authority and influence, you need to think about those who are influenced by you, either intentionally or unintentionally.  I'm sure that Obama isn't standing up there talking about how great smoking is and how much he loves being a smoker.  But just by having it televised that he smokes, or is quitting but is not being 100% successful with it, may cause people to be influenced, whether he knows it or not.  And he MUST know that he influences people in a very powerful way!!!  I haven't seen people as heavily influenced by and one president in my entire life!!!  And while many of the ways he influences people are positive and healthy, this smoking thing may very well have a negative effect on the public.

We have come SO far in the fight against smoking!!!  More and more states are banning smoking in public places; smoking rates are plummeting, and the number of adolescents starting to smoke has declined significantly as well.  I would HATE to see all of that undone by the actions of one president!  By him smoking, he is sending a message to kids that it's "cool" to smoke again, whereas for many years, smoking has been seen as very UNCOOL!  What a shame it would be to see all of that progress undone!

In my opinion, Obama NEEDS to quit... not JUST for himself and his family, but for this country!!!!

Crave the Quit!

BFS