Michelle Obama Takes to the Trail

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: Michelle Obama Takes to the Trail
By SUSAN SAULNY
Published: February 14, 2008


(Monica Almeida/NYT)
Michelle Obama with Stevie Wonder, far left, at a campaign rally at UCLA.

....Outspoken, strong-willed, funny, gutsy and sometimes sarcastic, Michelle Obama is playing a pivotal role in her husband’s campaign as it builds on a series of successes, including a sweep on Tuesday of contests in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Her personal style — forthright, comfortable in the trenches, and often more blunt than Mr. Obama — plays well with a broad swath of the electorate and has given the campaign a steelier edge while allowing Mr. Obama to stay largely above it all.

“I am trying to be as authentically me as I can be,” Mrs. Obama said in an interview. “My statements are coming from my experiences and my observations and my frustrations.” Mrs. Obama says she dislikes politics — she insists there will be no second run for the presidency if her husband falls short this time — but relishes a good fight, the competition of it all.

In the beginning, she had significant questions about an Obama candidacy. She pressed advisers for a blueprint of how the campaign would raise money and compete with Mrs. Clinton and other candidates. She gave her approval after seeing a concrete plan presented in strategy meetings in late 2006, all of which she attended. Now she is involved in most major facets of campaign strategy, always a fierce protector of her husband’s image. While they seldom travel together — fanning out much like the Clintons do — she is often in touch with key advisers and her message is shaped by the same strategists who advise Mr. Obama....

***

At almost six feet tall in heels, Mrs. Obama, 44, cuts an athletic and authoritative figure in her tailored pantsuits and skirts. A Harvard-educated lawyer who had been earning $212,000 a year as a hospital executive before she took leave on Jan. 1, she delivers rousing 40-minute speeches — surveying topics as far-ranging as the specific failings of the federal No Child Left Behind education act and problems with the military strategy in Iraq — without the aid of even a notecard.

A doting mother of two, Mrs. Obama has kept crowds waiting with telephone calls to her “little people” — daughters Sasha, 6, and Malia, 9.

But Mrs. Obama’s confident, commanding presence has its drawbacks....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/us/politics/14michelle.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

[Diane R]

1. I heard Michelle speak last week. She's fabulous!

[Olney Blue]

2. Nice article! Thanks for posting.

[momster]

3. No Free-Speaking *Republican* Wives

Notice that neither Mrs. McCain, Mrs. Huckabee or, for that matter, Mrs. Romney ever speaks publicly and independently. None of them are out campaigning while their husbands are elsewhere. They've got the standing behind and slightly to the right of the 'Great Man' down pat, but where are their rallies? Where are the in-depth interviews with the Republican wives? What, Tyra Banks isn't calling? No Ellen? No heart-to-hearts with Larry King? Or is that the Republicans don't dare trot out their potential First Ladies? Don't they want us to know and love them? Or are they afraid of certain questions being asked like "Didn't it tick you off when the Bush campaign slandered your child in 2000, Mrs. McCain?" Or "What did happen to all those wedding gifts, Mrs. Huckabee?" Not to mention "Are you completely clean now, Mrs. McCain?" and "So why did you lose the Sec. of State election while your husband was Governor...and why exactly did you run?"

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Hmmmmm -- interesting questions! nt