Guess I won’t be occupying the Oval Office any time soon.
Of all of the craziness going on in the political blogosphere today, including race cards, celebrities, whining, expensive shoes, etc., the thing that jumped out at me (and was pointed to by Paul Krugman and Dick Polman and Matt Yglesias) is this Wall Street Journal piece about why Barack Obama might be “too skinny” to be president. The headline actually says “too fit.”
So here’s the quote that’s getting batted around:
But in a nation in which 66% of the voting-age population is overweight and 32% is obese, could Sen. Obama’s skinniness be a liability? Despite his visits to waffle houses, ice-cream parlors and greasy-spoon diners around the country, his slim physique just might have some Americans wondering whether he is truly like them.
Absolutely unbelievable. Why does the question have to be whether our overweight American nation will accept a svelte, in-shape president and not whether a fit president will be able to get this nation moving again, literally?
I say it now. If Barack Obama loses this election and exit polls show that the difference was the “he’s too fit” vote, I’m moving to Sweden (or some other “skinny” country).
Tags: diet, exercise, fitness, krugman, mccain, obama, obesity, polman, protein bars, skinny, svelte, weight, yglesias
