# Michelle Obama as a candidate **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 14, 2024, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838 "2024-03-14T19:24:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/61 "2024-03-15T22:19:27Z")
As long as we’re making wishes, I’d like a billion dollars, tax free of course. That’s about as unlikely as getting major party replacement candidates. In the real world, the choice is between the incumbent, who has displayed competence and an ability to get legislation passed, and the prior officeholder, who has not. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/62 "2024-03-15T22:31:26Z")
> [@Kedikat](#): > > I think Trumps brain is operating better than Biden. Bless your heart. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/63 "2024-03-15T22:46:27Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > > > AOC and Taylor Swift were born two months apart in 1989. They’re therefore eligible for the presidency this year. Maybe they’re the future. Somebody young has to be. But not in 2024. > > And the generation-defining Presidential candidate for that cohort is likely to be someone who is **not** currently a “celebrity” figure, who probably will come after three or four terms of GenX types or else be an early outlier but then have a reversion to the mean. But who knows, who may yet come up and rise Barack-Obama-like surprising everybody. > > I _ **get** _ the desire for someone who will crush the enthusiasm gap. Does though seem to recapitulate the old aphorism about how Republicans Fall In Line, Democrats want to Fall In Love. I’m hoping for Jeff Jackson. He’s slightly older than those two at 41. His big hurdle right now is to remain in relevant political positions in North Carolina politics. > [@Kedikat](#): > > On a purely bio mechanical basis, I think Trumps brain is operating better than Biden. But what each of those brains come out with? I wish each side had a different candidate. Trumps voice is stronger. The blabber coming out of his mouth is much much worse. I’m not talking about his politics or ideas. His incoherent ramblings show whats going on in his head. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/64 "2024-03-15T22:50:48Z")
**Moderating** Watch the non replies that are basically insults. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/65 "2024-03-15T22:51:46Z")
I like Jeff Jackson a lot myself. I also like Gretchen Whitmer and Mallory McMorrow. My list of great future presidential candidates is pretty long actually. It doesn’t include Michelle Obama, because I believe her when she says she isn’t interested. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/66 "2024-03-15T22:54:39Z")
> [@Kedikat](#): > > I would not say completely unrealistic. There are reasons it could happen without intent. Yes, if he dies or is incapacitated, he will be replaced. That’s the only scenario. > [@](#): > > One could set Biden as a sort of sacrificial goat. He and Trump have at it. If Biden does not do well. Make the last minute substitution. Due to medical issues or such? It’s not going to come down to who “does well.” Both candidates are known quantities, and it will all come down to which way “independents” swing and GOTV. People who choose to vote for Trump will be voting for a known criminal and insurrectionist; debate performance, etc., is irrelevant. > [@](#): > > Someone such as Michelle Obama has a good reputation. Seems an intelligent capable woman. Yep, she’s great–and not a politician. > [@](#): > > Or Hillary even? Not who I would wish. There are options. You gotta be taking the piss with this. > [@](#): > > It might even garner sympathy votes. The party lost their candidate. The replacement has not faced any failures or gaffs during the campaign. They come in clean. Trump will still carry any gaffs he has made. The new kid has seen the gaffs the pitfalls. Can now avoid them and speak to what the campaign has revealed so far that the voters want. C’mon, man. There would be the stink of loss of momentum and just plain loss on the Democrats with such a move. As an idea, it’s dumb as hell. > [@](#): > > I also worked for a campaign. In the US? I was an ESL teacher for a year and have been a translator and interpreter for about 30 (Japanese). You strike me as being a very high-level non-native speaker (almost certainly European). For example, “carry any gaff[e]s” is not the correct idiom and not something I think a native speaker would say. etc. However, you could be a naturalized American, in which case I intend no insult (I am just not a huge fan of non-USians commenting on our elections, etc., without stating their status). ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/67 "2024-03-15T23:03:15Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I like Jeff Jackson a lot myself. I also like Gretchen Whitmer and Mallory McMorrow. My list of great future presidential candidates is pretty long actually. It doesn’t include Michelle Obama, because I believe her when she says she isn’t interested. I’m not familiar with McMorrow. There’s a good chance future candidates aren’t even on the radar. Who could have predicted Obama? An inexperienced junior senator who not only is black but has a weird foreign name. Or Bill Clinton, a little known governor from a small mostly ignored state. When each of them started their campaign no one said “Yep that’s the next president.” ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2024, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/68 "2024-03-16T06:54:40Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > There’s a good chance future candidates aren’t even on the radar. I agree, but … > [@Loach](#): > > Who could have predicted Obama? TIME magazine could, and did, so not a good example. TBH I don’t remember if they were predicting a possible presidency, but after his famous speech at the Democratic convention, he was definitely on the radar as a rising star. I don’t think there are currently any such bright lights on the horizon. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2024, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/69 "2024-03-16T13:24:43Z")
This is good pushback against the “parties picking the candidates” trope. While one could make an argument for parties actually doing so (in contrast to the current primary system), recent history points to candidates who capture the electorate’s favorable attention. Jimmy Carter is another example. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2024, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/70 "2024-03-16T15:00:53Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > after his [Obama’s] famous speech at the Democratic convention, he was definitely on the radar as a rising star. I don’t think there are currently any such bright lights on the horizon. Clinton, too, got a prominent spot at the convention when governor (although he was criticized for speaking too long), so I think there is validity to people working up the ranks within the party. > **[Perspective | How Bill Clinton turned a dreadful convention speech into...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/08/18/how-bill-clinton-turned-dreadful-convention-speech-into-political-stardom/)** > > In 1988, Clinton learned a lesson that all convention speakers should remember today. I predict the next front runner is California governor Newsom. He’s got the right age (he’s currently 56), the good looks (at least when compared to typical politicians), and is well spoken; and image matters most. (Issues like policy mistakes or personal scandal will all be worked out later). > [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > This is good pushback against the “parties picking the candidates” trope. While one could make an argument for parties actually doing so (in contrast to the current primary system), recent history points to candidates who capture the electorate’s favorable attention. I thought that this was the point of the Democratic Party having superdelegates; they were party insiders who had more sway than the general electorate. I always thought that this feature distinguished the Democrats from the Republicans, and was the reason why a Trumpian rogue couldn’t pull that off with the Democrats. (Or did the Dems change their rules?) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2024, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/71 "2024-03-16T15:23:20Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I predict the next front runner is California governor Newsom. I like Newsom, but I worry about the baggage of California’s perceived troubles. Whether real or perceived, or entirely imaginary, you can bet that Republicans will be throwing everything at him that they can dredge up, wildly distort, or entirely make up. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/72 "2024-03-16T15:28:24Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I like Newsom, but I worry about the baggage of California’s perceived troubles. Whether real or perceived, or entirely imaginary, you can bet that Republicans will be throwing everything at him that they can dredge up, wildly distort, or entirely make up. He’s a _really_ good debater (as we currently define political debates). His verbal jujitsu is just amazing. One of the best politicians I’ve ever seen at dealing with gotchas. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2024, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/73 "2024-03-16T15:51:08Z")
I notice if we observe the last three presidential winners on the Democratic side (Carter, Clinton, Obama) they all were long-shots under conventional wisdom when they first came up, but they were not true **total** outsiders, they all had put in time in the lower rungs of elective office (and they all got a serving Senator as running mate). Meanwhile even the two VP candidates in that time period that were commonly seen as being especially weak, Republicans Quayle and Palin, **did** have elective office experience. The only person to get into either ticket slot in living memory without ANY elective or appointed remunerated political or government-service experience, solely on the basis of celebrity power, **is** Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/74 "2024-03-16T15:55:03Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > (Issues like policy mistakes or personal scandal will all be worked out later). Famous last words 😀. He’s got rather more than the average bear. Still, you may be right on the front-runner thing. I will remain skeptical he can win until the day he’s ensconced in the White House, but stranger things have happened. He’s certainly smart, assertive and has the charisma and the debating chops for the campaign. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/75 "2024-03-18T02:39:08Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Somebody young has to be. But not in 2024 Somebody currently young has to be _a_ future President. Bit not until they’re old. So not the next, or even next plus one, President. The days of the USA electing 40yos to President are over for at least another 50 years and most likely forever ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/76 "2024-03-18T03:35:30Z")
I’d bet large sums that you’re wrong about “another 50 years”… although I won’t be alive to collect. Unless Trump wins and institutes a hereditary autocracy. That would make it possible that _nobody_ alive today will be a future President because the title won’t exist in this darkest timeline until after Barron dies in 2100. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/77 "2024-03-18T03:42:37Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I’d bet large sums that you’re wrong about “another 50 years”… although I won’t be alive to collect Nor I to pay off. Or collect as the case might become. But it is an interesting topic. Perhaps a new thread is in order. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/78 "2024-03-18T13:29:26Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Famous last words 😀. He’s got rather more than the average bear Because he’s running _California_. Economically, culturally, and demographically, whatever - California has got to be in the top 3 most influential states in basically any category you choose. People are paying attention to him. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/79 "2024-03-18T17:07:59Z")
A major challenge for any California politician is the belief by about half the country that California is a woke economic wasteland from which nothing good ever comes. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/80 "2024-03-18T18:01:13Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > California is a woke economic wasteland from which nothing good ever comes. Well, except blockbuster superhero movies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838.md?page=5)