Barack Obama’s solution to dealing with members of Congress who don’t pass his health care plan? “Whup them.” At a town hall meeting on health care at Virginia High School, a 95-year-old voter gave the expected nominee a maple walking stick he had carved himself with the intention of giving it to Obama.
Obama thanked the man and then, admiring his new gift, said “If members of Congress don’t pass my health care plan, I’ll whup them, I’ll whup them. That’s right, don’t mess with me, I’ll have my stick.”
He then asked the voter what he eats every day “so I can look as good as you when I’m your age?”
“Work hard and eat three times a day,” the man replied.
Earlier in the speech, Obama told voters there would be at least one thing his health care plan would not cover: liposuction.
“There will still be some things that won’t be covered. Liposuction isn’t going to be covered. You can still get there but you’ll have to get there yourself,” he said, sparking laughter from the audience and confused looks from his traveling press corps.
He then misspoke and called an inhaler a “breathalyzer,” the tool used for measuring a person’s alcohol level. “Sorry, I haven’t had much sleep,” he said, laughing when he realized the error.
The Bristol rally is Obama’s first public campaign event since he passed the delegate threshold of 2,118 needed to secure the nomination.
