hawkeye, some of the things troubling you about Michelle Obama don't bother me at all.
I am actually sick of these political wives who sit, transfixed, looking at their husbands with an adoring gaze, as they listen to the same speech they have heard him deliver at least twenty times. It is unreal and rather unnatural for someone to do that. Why insist that the woman feign
adoration at all times? Simply because this has become the "convention" for political wives (sort of like their husbands wearing a flag pin to assert their "patriotism") does not mean that this "act" resonates well with female voters. It is almost in a class with the poor political wife who must loyally and gallantly stand next to her husband as he announces how he has just embarrassed her with his latest scandalous behavior (as did the previous governors of both New York and New Jersey). My fantasy has always been that those women are standing there because there is a gun at their back. This is the use of a political wife as "prop" and not as partner.
Michelle Obama does seem like a real person and not a "prop". Real women occasionally avert their gaze when their husband is speaking. Real woman voice opinions that begin with "I" and not just "We". Real women tease their husbands and jokingly banter with them. Real woman make spontaneous comments without worrying about how every syllable and nuance will play out in the media. Real women, who are graduates of Harvard Law School, and who earn $300,000 a year, would be expected to have real opinions and to be able to voice them in an assertive way.
Unfortunately, I think we might have seen the last of the "real" spontaneous Michelle Obama, at least for a while. Her handlers will tone her down, indoctrinate her in proper political etiquette, and air-brush her edges so she has more mass market appeal. She will watch her words, her body language, her clothing (the sleeveless dresses have to go, they are too revealing of her well toned arms), and she will probably wind up watching her husband with transfixed adoring eyes. I can hardly wait for the photos of her baking All-American apple pies with her daughters.
If Barack Obama sometimes seemed wimpy in his debates with Hillary Clinton, it was because she often outclassed him by her greater depth of understanding of the issues. She didn't "suck the juice out of him", she didn't have to, she just showed him up by comparison. She was the more thoroughly prepared. Just holding his own with this formidible woman was no small accomplishment. It wasn't the brilliance of his arguments that got him the nomination, it was a better strategized campaign, and it was the emotional appeal of his message and his persona.
Like his wife, Barack Obama is a relative political novice. He waited too long to deal with the Wright problem. He has a lot to learn and he has to learn it quickly. He'll do it--he's already wearing the flag pin. But he is a very lucky man to have such an intelligent and challenging woman by his side. His wife will help to keep him grounded. Given what he'll have to face over the next few months, keeping him grounded, and focused, is the most important thing Michelle Obama could do for him. And it's much more important than an adoring gaze.
Anyway, this column gave me the best laugh of my day:
http://www.slate.com/id/2193798/
