MCKEESPORT, Pa. - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama often tells the adoring audiences he draws to his large campaign rallies that he is “not a perfect man.”

But he usually steers clear of offering any specifics about his flaws.

At a town-hall style gathering outside of Pittsburgh on Monday, he was asked by a young supporter to give an example of both a “good quality” and a “bad quality” he has.

Obama eagerly delved into the first part of the question, saying he was honest and forthright. He offered a list of examples of that from his political career, citing a decision to give a speech in Detroit calling for strict fuel-economy standards and a separate speech on Wall Street calling for higher taxes for the wealthy.

But he was more hesitant about tackling the second part of the question.

“In terms of the bad qualities, what I’m going to have you do is talk to my wife after the town-hall meeting and she will tell you — she will have a pretty long list,” Obama said.

He did offer one example from his wife Michelle’s list.

“One of the things she complains about is, sometimes I put clothes up on the door instead of putting them on the hanger,” he said.

Obama is hardly the only politician who is reluctant to talk in detail about his flaws.

President George W. Bush has been tripped up by such questions. At a press conference in 2004, he was asked about his biggest mistake but struggled to come up with an answer.

“I wish you would have given me this written question ahead of time, so I could plan for it,” Bush said as he complained that he had been put on the spot.

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Cohn (Obama with his wife Michelle at a rally in Pittsburgh)