THE POLITICS OF DOPE - OBAMA COMES CLEAN

AT MANCHESTER'S Central High School on Monday, Sen. Barack Obama
admitted to students in a study hall that as a teenager he was a
"goof-off," a drinker and a drug user. He was right to be so candid.

"You know, I made some bad decisions that I've actually written
about," Obama said. "You know, got into drinking. I experimented with
drugs. There was a whole stretch of time that I didn't really apply
myself a lot. It wasn't until I got out of high school and went to
college that I started realizing, 'Man, I wasted a lot of time.'"

Mitt Romney, whose past is so clean his autobiography has been known
to actually disinfect the books next to it, criticized Obama's statements.

"It's just not a good idea for people running for President of the
United States who potentially could be the role model for a lot of
people to talk about their personal failings while they were kids
because it opens the doorway to other kids thinking, 'well, I can do
that too and become President of the United States,' " Romney said. "I
think that was a huge error by Barack Obama . . . it is just the wrong
way for people who want to be the leader of the free world."

Mitt Romney is a great role model for children who have yet to succumb
to the temptations of addictive behavior. But for self-doubting teens
who have already stumbled, identifying with someone so gleamingly
unblemished is difficult.

With his admission, Obama is able to show teens who already have made
bad decisions that there is life after drinking and drug use -- as
long as they stop.

Inner city Manchester is home to far too many kids who already have
started down the path of self-destruction. With his candor, Obama may
have given them hope and a reason to clean up. His example is just
what some of those kids need. We are grateful he chose to level with
them and not feed them lies through which they would easily have seen.
It is important that these teens hear from someone who was once like
them that it is not too late to turn their lives around.