OBAMARAMA

Stop the presses! Sen. Barack Obama, a likely contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, admitted to having tried drugs in high school and college, a fact he acknowledged in a book that was published 11 years ago! But somehow we just noticed!

Today’s Washington Post breathlessly reports on Sen. Obama’s ancient disclosure that he tried drugs in his youth, a revelation that comes from Sen. Obama’s own memoir, Dreams from My Father, written shortly after he began practicing law in Chicago. Though reprinted on MSNBC.com under the forboding headline “Obama’s past could be an issue,” anyone who digs a little deeper will see that the article is in fact filled with quotes from people who think it won’t. They include:

• Republican consultant Alex Vogel, who noted that “Anyone who has a career in politics has to be concerned with what’s in their past, but there is no question that Americans have an appetite for redemption.”
• “A senior Republican strategist who will be advising a GOP presidential candidate in 2008″ who “said he did not see anything in the book that would be a ‘disqualifier’” and who “also suggested that there will be high tolerance for marijuana use among voters because many baby boomers probably tried the drug in the ’60s.”
• Anita Dunn, a veteran Democratic political consultant, who asked, “Who’s going to cast that first stone?”
• Rhodes Cook, an independent political analyst, who pointed out that “Democratic
  primary voters, who are typically more liberal, would be more understanding of his drug use — ‘and if he makes it to a general election, it will be old news.’”
• Sen. Dick Durbin, who said of Sen. Obama’s honesty that “I think it will be received as refreshing.”

Ironically, the article’s harshest condemnation of Sen. Obama’s admission comes from the senator himself, who says that while his candor may prove “politically inconvenient,” he would tell the same story the same way today.

It’s that candor that sets Sen. Obama apart. One of the best discussions on the subject of drug use by presidential candidates, with a special focus on Sen. Obama, came last October on The Chris Matthews Show, where Howard Fineman rightly noted that such youthful indiscretions have become “an accepted part of the culture now” and that “one of the the reasons Barack Obama is so popular, especially among younger people, is that he seems so real…he seems to be willing to be honest.” Another guest hits the nail on the head: “There’s nothing to add once you say, Yes, I inhaled. Then what? Nothing. The thing people can’t stand is the lie.” Take a look:

I for one — and if you ask around, I think you’ll find I’m in good company — would take a president who admits to trying drugs in his youth over one who lies about it any day of the week. Past drug use is not the best credential, of course, but honesty is, and when it comes right down to it I think America is just tired of being lied to.

UPDATE: The quick eyes over at News Hounds spotted a FOX & Friends anti-Obamathon this morning, and now have the video posted on their site. Have a look. “Judge” Andrew Napolitano actually calls Sen. Obama a drug addict, but both he and Steve Doocy dismiss the invocation of President Bush’s drug abuse history. I guess not all of America is tired of being lied to — especially those who do it for a living.