Anti-Bubba: Is Obama's Bod Un-American?

Maybe the typical American will have trouble identifying with a 'beanpole'
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 1, 2008 4:42 PM CDT
Anti-Bubba: Is Obama's Bod Un-American?
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., goes for a bike ride in Chicago, Sunday, June 8, 2008.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

No matter how long the 2008 campaign drags on, we'll never see Barack Obama as we did Bill Clinton in 1992: drenched in sweat and jogging into a McDonald's. Obama's fit—skinny, even—and a bit of a gym rat. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the notion of presidential fitness and wonders if the typical American might find a "beanpole guy," as one voter described him, a little alienating.

"He needs to put some meat on his bones,” says a female Hillary Clinton supporter in Texas. Unlike John McCain, who has a weakness for Butterfingers, jelly beans, and Dunkin’ Donuts, Obama prefers protein bars. His daughter even called him out for lacking a sweet tooth. “Everybody should like ice cream," she said. (More Barack Obama stories.)

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