Michelle Obama has been a very effective campaigner with women, the working class and blacks but she has stuck her foot in ther mouth more than once.
She said that we were only going to get one shot at Obama, it is now or never.
This may seem innocuous but she said this at a time when there were more than a few Democrats who were urging Obama to “wait his turn”
She has also waffled on whether she would support Clinton if she were the eventual nominee (she has since recanted and expressed unqualified support for whoever is the nominee). This was at a time when everyone was still up in the air about whether Obama supporters would switch to Clinton is Obama lost.
Now she says this is the FIRST time in her adult life that she is proud of her country. Why use the words “the first time in my adult life”?
She hasn’t hurt it much. She does need to modify the statement somewhat. For myself, I have not been proud of the US since 01/20/01, but there were periods in my life before where I was. If she had added “since W” it wouldn’t make a ripple in the news.
None. Those who understand Obama’s message understand what she meant. (She actually said it’s the first time she’s been “really proud” of her country, as in very proud.) And she means that she’s proud to see grass roots democracy in action, the stuff she’s heard about in history books but hasn’t seen for herself until now.
I’m going to say zero. She’s been more of an asset to the campaign in connecting with the voters people kept saying would reject Obama for being “not black enough.” It’s interesting - people seem to see spouses only as liabilities on the campaign trail.
I had no problem with that statement. As you said, people were saying he should wait his turn and it was too soon (I said that too, a year ago and longer). She made a decent counterargument, and I think she’s been vindicated on that. This is Obama’s moment, and I agree that if it doesn’t come now it probably won’t come again. This level of enthusiasm is probably going to be impossible to replicate, at least in the primaries.
Probably not a smart thing to say, but her adult life goes back to what, Reagan’s Presidency? So it’s basically a critique of modern politics as being out of touch and insufficiently hopeful.
Her full quote was apparently this: “People in this country are ready for change, and hungry for a different kind of politics and let me tell you something, for the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback.”
Zero. For one thing, she’s not the candidate. Cindy McCain is a drug addict who stole from her own non-profit charity. She’s also a homewrecker who started banging Maverick while he was still married to his first wife. None of that matters because she’s not the candidate. People don’t base their votes on the candidates’ spouses (with the possible exception of the Clintons).
Secondly, there’s no real scandal. This is is the typical, manufactured outrage over selectively parsed words that the right wing has specialized in for years.
In context, Michelle Obama was clearly talking about the political process and about her previous cynicism about it. Despite the breathless headlines and commentaries on Fox News, all of the outrage about this is entirely pretended, just like they all pretended that Kerry had insulted the troops. They’re hoping people will be stupid enough to think Michelle Obama hates America, therefore Bracak hates America therfore they should vote GOP. Only imbeciles will fall for it. It won’t move a single vote.
If anything, the Obama’s should just take the lesson that at this point every word they utter is going to be parsed and sifted for the most negative interpretation that can possibly be made about them.
Michelle Obama is a brilliant and eloquent surrogate for her husband’s campaign. I haven’t found one thing to find offense about in anything she’s said. She’s been right about all of it.
My opinion exactly. Same with those who believe Obama’s a Muslim madrassah (sp?) graduate or believe he smoked crack while a deranged gay guy had sex with him in a limo- they’re not likely to be fence voters.
If Hillary’s smart she won’t reference Michelle’s “lack of pride”, but I’m beginning to wonder how smart she is, so she might.
Seriously…she should be trying to mend her fences and unite the party. I don’t think her negative campaigning is going to do anything at all except hurt her (and maybe hurt the party…it doesn’t seem to be doing shit to Obama)…so she should stop it and bend her stiff neck to the inevitable. I’m not saying she should leave the race like Romney did…but she should be working toward uniting the party for the REAL contest ahead.
I agree but when you actually SAY that, you come off as a bit egotistical.
I also agree that she has been a great advocate for her husband and has been reaching out to the black community in ways that Obama can’t. She has been reaching out to women who are comforted by the fact that Michelle Obama is so outspoken and successful. But the general election is going to be starting soon and there is going to be a war of words between Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama and the less she sticks her foot in her mouth the better off the country will be.
Homewrecker, huh? I thought we had moved passed blaming the woman for the actions of the man, but I guess not.
While I agree there is no scandal here, one isn’t parsing her words when one takes their literal meaning. She clearly misspoke, as she said in the other speech that she it was the first time she was really proud of her country. Seems like she left out the “really” in one instance. That’s her fault, not the fault of “the right wing”.
Quite a few people (including quite a few liberals) have noticed an arrogant view of American history implied in Obama’s recent speeches - where he comes off as the ultimate fulfillment of the American ideal. The quote by Michelle Obama reinforces this.
Really, had Obama not run, another mainstream black candidate would have come along in relatively short order - American society has indeed changed that much. So it probably would be appropriate for Obama to note these changes humbly, as he is one of millions of grateful beneficiaries of them.
A good place to start would be his convention speech last time around, where he hit all the right notes of gratitude toward America.
Who cares about “a bit egotistical?” Running for president is an egotistical thing to do. Yes, her comment did imply that he was doing people a favor by running. But it’s not like that’s going to be an issue six months from now. It barely received any notice at the time. There’s so much unrestrained egotism in this campaign that her remark doesn’t even stand out. I think Hillary Clinton’s words and actions betray a belief she is entitled to be the nominee, but you don’t hear too much about that!
Describing their exchange from yesterday as a “war of words” is the height of hyperbole. Cindy McCain made a subtle nitpick of something Michelle Obama said. That’s about it.