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From healthcare to helmets – Obama agenda continues to split the US

Opinion divides as leader of the free world rides into a storm for not wearing a lid

 
Healthcare reform, the bailout of the banking and auto industries and foreign policy issues such as the Middle East and South Korea. You’d think that President Obama would be able to enjoy a few days’ holiday with his family at the well-heeled island resort of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts without igniting another controversy that divides public opinion in the United States.

Oops. The publication of photos of the world’s most powerful man taking a leisurely bike ride with the first family, presumably followed by a peloton of secret service agents, has sparked debate across the US media because – are you ready for this? – the president wasn’t wearing a helmet.

A poll on the respected political blog, The Huffington Post, shows that the nation is as polarised on this issue as any other, with 50.5% claiming that as a grown man, Obama is free to do as he chooses, while 49.5% say that he needs to take care of himself.

Obama’s non-helmet wearing represents another departure from the policies of his predecessor, George W Bush, often pictured sporting a lid while riding at his Crawford, Texas ranch with Lance Armstrong, although an article published in the New York Times before the 2004 presidential election suggests that the former president’s bike handling skills – or lack of them – may well have influenced his decision to join the pro-helmet camp.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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