Smokes and votes: Could menthol cigarette ban sway U.S. election?

Washington –

In a quintessentially American tale of race and politics, the lowly menthol cigarette is playing a curiously large role in the U.S. presidential election this year.

A proposed ban from President Joe Biden's administration on the mint-flavored smokes has miffed some Black Americans, a key Democratic Party base. To complicate matters, narratives linked to the tobacco lobby have ginned up fears that the ban could lead to over policing and racism.

Those are normally left-wing concerns, but in an election year, anything goes — and Republicans are using the issue to . . .