# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 5
**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 18, 2024, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/81 "2024-03-18T19:00:02Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Because he’s running _California_. Well, also because he is an entitled douchebag 🙂. I mean never mind the arrogant, tone-deaf French Laundry bullshit - an entirely self-inflicted wound. This is also a guy who cheated on his first wife with the wife of his campaign manager and one his best friends, breaking up both marriages. I mean, c’mon Newsom. I’ve voted for Newsom before and very recently and it is quite likely I’ll be in a position to do so again and probably will again. He is a dedicated, skilled and surprisingly fearless politician whose political values align closer to mine than anyone he has run against for state office. Progressives nationwide owe a great deal of debt to him for triggering the process by which a measure of marriage equality finally became reality. But he does occasionally acts like a rich asshole and sticks his foot in it. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/82 "2024-03-18T20:00:15Z")
I’m pretty certain that if Biden were replaced by Newsom the GOP / RNC / MAGAWorld would unleash a total destruction smear campaign that they probably have cued up and ready to go. Don’t forget that Newsom’s ex-wife is one of the biggest and most prominent MAGA trolls out there. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/83 "2024-03-18T21:32:15Z")
Michelle isn’t running and there’s IMO no particular reason to want her to, for reasons others have already covered. But I see on the betting sites she is only a 9-1 underdog to become the next President, suggesting that bettors actually think she has a 10% chance of being elected. Other people who clearly aren’t going to be elected in 2024 (Hillary, Bernie, Haley, Newsome, et al) are also being given nontrivial chances. My take-home is that I need to open an election betting website, as clearly morons are lining up to give money away to people in that industry. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/84 "2024-03-18T21:40:10Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > My take-home is that I need to open an election betting website, as clearly morons are lining up to give money away to people in that industry. No shit. I wonder if there’s any way to “short” those bets – I’ll take a 10% return on Michelle not being elected all day. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/85 "2024-03-18T22:25:48Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > 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. OTOH, those same people also think that Chicago is a corrupt, poverty-ridden woke hellhole overrun by gang violence and predatory drag queens. If Obama could overcome that, a good California politician should be able to as well(I make no judgment on whether Newsome might be that politician). ---
**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, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/86 "2024-03-18T22:31:17Z")
Were the USA in 2028 the same place culturally and politically as was the USA in 2008, I’d agree with your point. The red part of the USA is a different planet today from what it was lo those 16 years ago. And may well be an even stranger place 4 years hence. ---
**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 19, 2024, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/87 "2024-03-19T00:26:31Z")
Adam Schiff is presumably going to be the next Senator from California. He has a strong record after more than 20 years in Congress. He led the first Trump impeachment. He was the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee. He gets regular publicity exposing the idiocy of his Republican colleagues. He lacks the asshole personality that dooms Newsom. I would expect that as a sitting Senator he would likely make a run for the Presidency and have good possibilities. Being from California would be a plus in the primaries. Two big negatives, though. He’ll be 68 in 2028, which probably will be seen as too old. And he’s Jewish. I’m dismissing women because of American sexism, and I’d say the same of any Jewish candidate because of anti-semitism. I’d ecstatically be willing to be proven wrong on any of these predictions, however. ---
**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 19, 2024, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/88 "2024-03-19T02:03:10Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > 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. > > OTOH, those same people also think that Chicago is a corrupt, poverty-ridden woke hellhole overrun by gang violence and predatory drag queens. If Obama could overcome that, a good California politician should be able to as well(I make no judgment on whether Newsome might be that politician). Obama didn’t run Chicago or Illinois. Being an executive is a different animal. It’s why a solid blue state like mine will never (at least in my lifetime) vote in a republican senator or go Rep for President but might still vote in a republican governor. The executive gets all the blame for the bad and perceived bad things that happen. A senator can rightfully say he had nothing to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/89 "2024-03-23T18:37:45Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Adam Schiff is presumably going to be the next Senator from California. He has a strong record after more than 20 years in Congress. He led the first Trump impeachment. He was the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee. He gets regular publicity exposing the idiocy of his Republican colleagues. He lacks the asshole personality that dooms Newsom. Unfortunately Schiff pretty much lacks _ **any** _ personality. Politics junkies (such as most of those posting here, including myself) like him for his intelligence. But the general voting public will look at him and see an empty suit. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I’m dismissing women because of American sexism, and I’d say the same of any Jewish candidate because of anti-semitism. I’d ecstatically be willing to be proven wrong on any of these predictions, however. I think you’re right about this barrier (and I, too, would love to be proven wrong about it). As for Michelle Obama: I agree with all who’ve said she doesn’t want to run. But in the scenario of Biden being unavailable, for whatever reason, I think she would at least consider it—just to save the nation from Trump 2.0. She’s smart enough to know what a dire outcome that would be, and might be willing to sacrifice her own comfort to head it off. ETA: Yes, the afore-mentioned sexism of many voters–many Democratic and independent voters, which is what would matter here–wouldn’t work in Michelle O’s favor. However, if she were to run, many otherwise sexist voters could rationalize a vote for her under the theory that it’s her husband who would ‘really’ be making the decisions. Ugly, but likely true. And if it keeps Trump from power… ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2024, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/90 "2024-03-23T20:09:52Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > She saw Barack age the way he did over 8 years, I can’t imagine wanting that for yourself. Barack also couldn’t stop smoking, and that ages you. But yeah- the stress is terrible. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > When Biden inevitably dies of old age, Michelle will become the candidate. She is 60 now. If Biden lives to be 100… Michelle is super popular, and would get votes as a veep. But she doesnt want it. She _might_ be talked into a Cabinet seat, maybe Education, but… > [@Aeschines](#): > > Fuck no, this is lame defeatism. Harris is actually awesome, and she can win. Yeah, I have no major issue with her. > [@Babale](#): > > She will be a strong candidate and may very well win, but she should compete in an open primary with the full field of Democrats. Of course. > [@Babale](#): > > If she loses, we might get a stronger (and dare I hope, younger) presidential candidate out of the Democratic party. No, I dont want anyone younger than late 50’s-60’s. > [@Kedikat](#): > > As the current in office bait is not very tasty. This is quite false. Harris does fairly well in polling. > [@Kedikat](#): > > I do not think Biden is going to be the actual candidate for the Dems. Some shenanigans will happen at some point. Well, there’s a tiny change Joes dies, but other than that, its a done deal. They wont pull any “shenanigans”. > [@Smapti](#): > > Not unless you want Trump to win there aren’t. Right, Biden beats trump. He already has, and he is the best polling to do so. > [@Kedikat](#): > > I think someone other than Biden might do better against Trump. Not sure who that might be. Polling says you are wrong. > [@Kedikat](#): > > A lot of Democratic voters would like an alternative to Biden. Yeah, if JFK rose from the grave or something. Oh wait, he’d be “too old”. A lot of Indys and youth voters were kinda hoping for another Obama to show up out of nowhere, but it didnt happen. There is no one waiting in the wings who could beat trump. The top candidate other than Biden or Harris is Newsom, and the pols say he’d lose badly vs trump. > [@Alessan](#): > > Did ACA really work? Has it made a difference? Yes. But you actually have to sign up for it. Some people gambled- and lost. > [@Akaj](#): > > It might have been the best that could have been achieved under the circumstances. No “might” about it. > [@Babale](#): > > On the other hand, the biggest problem with the American health insurance industry is that as a for profit industry Kaiser, one of the biggest is a Not for profit. So is BlueShield. > [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > What I do think is that if either Joe or Kamala dropped out for any reason, I think she’d be a good choice for the VP position. She has a lot of name recognition, she’s well liked among Democrats and Independents and i think she might drive turnout. All that is true. But she doesnt want the job. > [@Aeschines](#): > > The idea that Joe Biden could be replaced at this point is completely unrealistic and undesirable. Yep. Wont and cant work > [@Kedikat](#): > > 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 Giving trump a clear and easy win. If someone wants Biden to drop out, that means they want trump to win. Because that is what will occur. > [@Kedikat](#): > > Biden has exhibited some mental fitness issues. Nope. I mean unless you call a mild stutter since he was a little boy a “mental fitness issue”. > [@Kedikat](#): > > I think Trumps brain is operating better than Biden. It is to laugh. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2024, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/91 "2024-03-23T20:19:17Z")
> [@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. While true, they will do that at any Dem candidate. Think what they could do vs Mayor Pete for example. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Somebody young has to be. No. That’s kinda ageist. I want someone who is distinguished. Late 50’s- 60’s. Yeah, maybe 77 is not the best age, but it all depends on the candidate. > [@Kedikat](#): > > 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. Impossible, unless Biden withdraws or dies. and if the DNC tried it, trump would win in a landslide. Is that what you want? > [@LSLGuy](#): > > 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. None of those vote Blue anyway. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Two big negatives, though. He’ll be 68 in 2028, which probably will be seen as too old. Hardly. Too old for what? Full contact football? Yeah, there the kremlin and others are trying to get youth and Indy voters to stay home or vote 3rd party as “too old”, but its not a real worry., not for 68 anyway. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2024, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/92 "2024-03-24T01:05:14Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The top candidate other than Biden or Harris is Newsom, and the pols say he’d lose badly vs trump. Almost every voting American has an opinion about Biden. That’s why Biden’s numbers in polls meant something, even last year. But Newsom is in another universe, polling wise. He has much lower name recognition. And even someone who reads the papers a lot, and has heard of him (me), does not necessarily have an opinion regarding him. As soon as the early primary election filling deadlines past, it was too late for Joe to drop out. End of that story. But whatever happens, I do not think either party is set to choose a strong nominee this cycle. Is there a whiff of Democratic Party defeatism in my last paragraph? Could be. One of the earlier posters said we shouldn’t be defeatist, but I didn’t catch why. ---
**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 24, 2024, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/93 "2024-03-24T01:51:30Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > But in the scenario of Biden being unavailable, for whatever reason, I think she would at least consider it—just to save the nation from Trump 2.0 Yet again why _should_ anyone be looking hopefully _to Michelle Obama, specifically_, to save the nation? And frankly this goes back even to before Trump II Orange Boogaloo was something imminent. Some Twitter wags were already trying to cast her as the Next Hillary [all the way back in 2016](https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2016/11/129363/michelle-obama-2020-president). Though some of those comments surely were just mere musings or transient reactions, that sort of thing takes on a life of its own in this world. > [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > > > Two big negatives, though. He’ll be 68 in 2028, which probably will be seen as too old. > > Hardly. Too old for what? Full contact football? Really, _after_ Trump and Biden, a healthy 68 may seem a breath of fresh air. One year younger than Reagan when he got elected. ---
**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 24, 2024, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/94 "2024-03-24T03:48:45Z")
I continue to believe that a generational change will be coming, in the same way that Kennedy, 43, and Nixon, 47, were the candidates after Eisenhower. Gen X will probably get skipped over - just as they whine about so much these days - and Millennial candidates will be seen as fresh new faces. The oldest will be 48 in 2028, just older than Kennedy and Nixon were in 1960. Obama was 48 and Clinton was 46. A young Gen Xer might slip in - 50 isn’t far off from 48 - but not older. I also continue to believe we will have a functioning democracy in 2028, so take any of my predictions with a grain of Ozempic. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2024, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/95 "2024-03-24T19:14:43Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > > [@Sherrerd](#): > > > > But in the scenario of Biden being unavailable, for whatever reason, I think she would at least consider it—just to save the nation from Trump 2.0 > > Yet again why _should_ anyone be looking hopefully _to Michelle Obama, specifically_, to save the nation? I’m not sure that anyone sees Michelle O as “saving the nation”. I suspect they see her as “being able to motivate people to vote who might otherwise stay home.” Which is rather different, though obviously crucial. Keeping Donny the Dimwitted Fascist out of office might well qualify as “saving the nation” though not in the sense of Having Revolutionary Ideas or Being Best At Getting Policies Passed or any other ‘_only she can do it_’ sense. It’s really all about November 5. Michelle Obama might well bring out voters who wouldn’t vote, otherwise, due to her–well, to be blunt, due to her being black. And being a black person with a fairly unassailable reputation on top of it. Right-wingers will revile her but not based on anything they can say out loud. They might say ‘she lacks legislative and executive experience’ which is certainly true, but it’s not as though she has no relevant experience. And her adherents could just as rightly say that she is smart enough to appoint good advisors (even apart from the guy sleeping in the same room). In short: she’s not easily vilified, she would bring out a certain number of voters who wouldn’t otherwise vote, and she has huge name recognition. These are important qualifying traits for being elected, even if not for actually handling the Presidency. But she’d likely do just fine at that, too. ---
**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 24, 2024, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/96 "2024-03-24T19:28:52Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I suspect they see her as “being able to motivate people to vote who might otherwise stay home.” Which is rather different, though obviously crucial. And which if so reveals a terrible failure at majority-building on the part of the Democratic Party, of Liberals, of Moderates and of Sane Conservatives. Between them all they should have a dozen people who could do that. . > [@Sherrerd](#): > > she’s not easily vilified, she would bring out a certain number of voters who wouldn’t otherwise vote, and she has huge name recognition. These are important qualifying traits for being elected, even if not for actually handling the Presidency. I know. I just find it depressing that I may not live to see an election where just being the best qualified will be the deciding factor. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2024, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/97 "2024-03-24T19:36:15Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > And which if so reveals a terrible failure at majority-building on the part of the Democratic Party, of Liberals, of Moderates and of Sane Conservatives. Between them all they should have a dozen people who could do that. Sure. But if we break our hearts over ‘what SHOULD be,’ we cede all power to the extreme right. Not a good outcome (in my view). > [@JRDelirious](#): > > I just find it depressing that I may not live to see an election where just being the best qualified will be the deciding factor. I’m not sure that _anyone_ has ever lived during a time when power went to the best-qualified. That doesn’t seem to be the way human nature works in relation to politics. ---
**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 24, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/98 "2024-03-24T20:30:04Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Michelle Obama might well bring out voters who wouldn’t vote, otherwise, due to her–well, to be blunt, due to her being black. And being a black person with a fairly unassailable reputation on top of it. Right-wingers will revile her but not based on anything they can say out loud. You left out the part where she’s secretly a transwoman whose birth name was Michael and her kids are kidnap victims who’ve been brainwashed and the Deep State paired her with Barack to control and blackmail him by threatening to expose his gayness and drug addiction and how she’s force-feeding awful cafeteria food to schoolchildren in order to prepare them for a future where only the liberal elites will be allowed to have real food and Real Americans will be forced to subsist off tightly rationed fake meat grown in peach tree dishes when they’re not eating bugs. /s ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838/99 "2024-03-24T20:36:56Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > You left out the part where she’s secretly a transwoman whose birth name was Michael and her kids are kidnap victims who’ve been brainwashed and the Deep State paired her with Barack to control and blackmail him by threatening to expose his gayness and drug addiction and how she’s force-feeding awful cafeteria food to schoolchildren in order to prepare them for a future where only the liberal elites will be allowed to have real food and Real Americans will be forced to subsist off tightly rationed fake meat grown in peach tree dishes when they’re not eating bugs. /s But there’s nothing in that list—which I agree would be employed by the GOP—that would influence independent voters. It would be greeted with delight by the MAGAs, but by no one else. In contrast, the attacks on Hillary Clinton _did_ convince a lot of non-MAGA voters—particularly given the assist Comey gave the GOP, which lent solid credibility to what was, in the end, pretty close to being a nothing-burger.\* So far as any of us are aware now, there’s nothing that could be attached to Michelle other than the ‘she’s a man’-style conspiracy theories and outright racism. And those types of claims won’t gain traction with non-MAGA voters. . . \*It’s true that HC shouldn’t have been running a private server. But the idea that she compromised national security is fairly laughable when we look at what Donny has gotten up to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michelle-obama-as-a-candidate/998838.md?page=4)