Michelle Obama Watch

by Rhonda

The Guardian UK’s Comment Is Free section features an essay by Sarah Wildman (of the American Prospect) entitled, “The first lady tightrope walk.” Wildman states what while media delving into details about the potential first ladies may seem “petty,” astonishingly “61% of Americans told Rasmussen pollsters that the potential first lady played some role in their voting decisions.”

Wildman quotes McGill University historian, Gil Troy, to make the point that for first ladies, it’s not their positives in the polls, but their negatives that can impact their respective presidential candidate. He states, “They rarely deliver votes, but they have much more of a track record of alienating voters or losing voters. So the first lady’s mission is to follow the political version of the Hippocratic Oath: First, do no harm.”

A tough task when, as Wildman puts it,

…the would-be presidential spouse has become a thankless placard, a projection of both feminist and anti-feminist principles. She must be careful of any ripple of discontent she expresses. Everything about her life becomes a window into the character of her man. Therefore she teeters between polarities. It helps if she’s smart, independent and career-oriented, but she must be similarly happy and fulfilled in her domestic life, immediately willing to backburner a career for her husband’s.

She posits that “Michelle Obama may be the perfect hybrid – super smart, super accomplished and yet as devoted to raising her daughters as she was to her law career.” But she’s also quick to point out that first ladies who have tried to have it both ways haven’t been entirely successful in the past because of what she sees as inherent tension between feminism and the traditional role of first lady. A point she drives home by looking to Michelle’s well-regarded appearance on “girlie (there’s the word again) daytime chat-show, The View,” where she quotes Michelle going on the record about staying out of major decisions, such as Mr. Obama’s vice presidential pick.

Unfortunately, for all the great things we know about Michelle Obama and her relationship with her husband, that’s all a lot of folks wanted to hear.