Obama figure removed from Jersey Shore boardwalk game

The operators of a Seaside Heights Boardwalk ball tossing game that used a crude likeness of President Obama as a target have decided to replace the effigy with another character.

Who that will be has not been disclosed, but Steve Whalen of Lucky Leo's Arcade says it will "political."

The replacement figure is to be unveiled later today and Whalen's brother Tom has indicated it could be Hillary Clinton.

On Tuesday, the Whalens put a bag over the head of the Obama figure as the media spotlight heated up in the seaside town that is home to MTV's Jersey Shore.

It was the second time in a week, that the use of President Obama's image in a carnival game has caused a stir.

Players have been paying $5 for a bucket of balls to throw them at plates held by the characters in the arcade's "Walkin Charlie" game.

Other figures include likenesses of Osama Bin Laden, Michael Jackson, a nameless Red Sox player and Stewie from the animated TV series Family Guy.

Tom Whalen, 59, said he didn't mean to offend anyone by adding Obama to the game a month ago. It's all for fun, he said.

"Heck, I voted for the son of a gun," said Whalen. "But I'm not real happy with some of the things going on with the health care issue."

Last week, a carnival operator in the Lehigh Valley removed a game in which players shot darts at an image of Obama.

Irvin Good Jr. received a complaint from a Massachusetts woman attending a fair in Roseto, about 20 miles north of Bethlehem, Pa. Good said his company, Hellertown-based Goodtime Amusements, will not offer the game again.

"It was just a big, big mistake in judgment, and I feel sorry about it," Good said.

Whalen said he's commissioned figures, of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin and also is planning to include 'Snooki' and "'Situation' from Jersey Shore.