Obama pledges not to smoke in White House

[December 08, 2008]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama says you won't catch him lighting up a cigarette in the smoke-free White House.

"There are times where I've fallen off the wagon," the president-elect said when asked in a broadcast interview whether he has kicked the habit.

"I've done a terrific job, under the circumstances, of making myself much healthier," he said. "And I think that you will not see any violations of these rules in the White House," he said on Sunday's "Meet the Press" on NBC.

Obama told the magazine Men's Health in an interview for its November issue that he wished he had more time for staying fit and that he still occasionally smoked a cigarette.

Obama said in that interview that he had bummed a cigarette a couple of times during the campaign. "But I figure, seeing as I'm running for president, I need to cut myself a little slack," he said.

[Associated Press]

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