Smoking to Victory

Noting that smoking has become a rather class-bound phenomenon, Tony Horwitz suggests that Barack Obama could try to court working-class voters by abandoning his efforts to quit: "Added bonus — Virginia and North Carolina, two leading tobacco-producing states, are both in play this election." Note that several of America's greatest recent fictional presidents, including Jed Bartlett and Jeff Bridges' character in The Contender, secretly smoke.

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http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2008/06/smoking-to-victory/48777/