Good morning, gentle blog reader,
Well, it’s not just us Americans who are in a frenzy, the British are excited too about our new president and his family. See what they have to say about Michelle Obama, candidate’s wife extraordinaire:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1083138/The-key-White-House-How-Michelle-Obama-clincher-Baracks-campaign.html
By David Gardner
Last updated at 4:29 AM on 05th November 2008
Commentators say Michelle Obama was key to her husband’s triumph
She initially didn’t want her husband to run for president. But today Michelle Obama was being hailed as a key player in Barack Obama’s historic White House triumph.
Michelle Obama was so crucial to clinching victory that campaign aides nicknamed her The Closer.
Now she is making history all of her own by becoming America’s first ever black First Lady.
And her admirers are labelling her as a 21st Century Jackie Kennedy who will bring glamour back to the White House.
The 44-year-old emerged from the shadows to attract a spotlight all of her own during her husband’s exhausting 22-month campaign.
When Mr Obama had to break off from electioneering just days before the election to visit his dying grandmother in Hawaii, it was Michelle he called on to step in for him at events he had to miss.
Far from being angry at the Democrat candidate’s no-show, huge crowds happily cheered on his wife.
It was just the latest example of the growing influence the striking 5 ft 11 ins Ivy League-educated lawyer had on her 47-year-old husband’s quest to become America’s first black president.
She admits she was initially worried about the effect the gruelling campaign would have on her young family and still spends as much time as possible with the couple’s daughters Malia, ten, and Sasha, seven.
Then she was hesitant at moving to the forefront as ‘the love of my life’ went from Democrat outsider to become runaway favourite to capture the keys to the West Wing.
But her popularity and eloquence on the campaign trail proved so effective she was increasingly called into action.
‘I am very passionate about change in the country and that’s what you see,’ she said.
There was just one major hiccup when she became caught up in the fervor over her husband’s success early in the primary campaign when she said: ‘For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country.’
After being condemned as unpatriotic, she was relaunched as a kinder, gentler wife and mother. Her public hugs with her husband and their infamous ‘fist bump’ sent a message that they were a team.
Mrs Obama’s hugs with her husband showed the world they are a team
Although she insists she won’t have a formal role in the Oval Office, few important decisions in the past have gone by without her husband first checking with ‘the boss.’
She admitted she was worried at first with the kind of concerns that would trouble most mothers.
‘I thought more about my girls and how do we make sure their lives are whole, that they’re still focused on school, that their lives don’t get consumed in this campaign, that they feel loved and get the attention that they need, that we don’t miss their activities.
‘I worried about finances, making sure that we paid the mortgage. Those were the thoughts that went through my head,’ she said.
But she quickly saw that she needed to take time off from her job as vice president of community relations at the University of Chicago Hospitals to take a full-time role in the Obama campaign.
Mrs Obama said she was worried about how the gruelling campaign would affect their daughters Malia, ten, and Sasha, seven
Born to a working class family in Chicago, she was always determined to make the most of her opportunities.
Michelle Obama did her undergraduate studies at Princeton University, where she earned a degree in sociology with a minor in African-American studies.
She went on to Harvard Law School and then worked in a corporate law firm in Chicago. It was there she met Barack in 1988.
Although he is three years older, her husband spent several years working as a community organiser before going to law school. As a new lawyer, Michelle was assigned as his adviser.
They began dating soon after and were married in 1992.
Mr Obama regularly says he is lucky his wife never decided to run for office. In his book The Audacity of Hope he wrote, ‘If I ever had to run against her for public office, she would beat me without much difficulty.’
Mrs Obama says she has talked to her children about the changes in their life when they move into the White House next January.
And she admitted she didn’t know whether she could have gone through it all again had he lost.
‘I am not interested in putting my family through this again and again,’ she admitted.
‘Don’t screw it up buddy,’ she once said to her husband before the big speech at the 2004 Democratic convention that helped launch his national career.
And she has been at his side every step of the way to make sure he didn’t.
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Compare Michelle’s marathon election efforts with Cindy McCain’s lackluster performance:
http://bobbiblogger.wordpress.com/2008/11/05/michelle-obama-vs-cindy-mccain-why-barack-won/
Do you think Michelle was an asset or a detriment for Barack?
Bobbi
Filed under: politics | Tagged: Michelle Obama clinches election for Barack, Michelle Obama--Barack's #1 asset, Michelle Obama--the closer | 3 Comments »
