Michelle Obama rocks!

I know she has her haters, even here on DL, but Michelle Obama is smart and fierce and beautiful. The link is to a speech she gave yesterday in Wisconsin. I think she's actually a more inspiring and talented public speaker than her husband. And the crowd loves her. There is no comparison between her and someone like Ann Romney. I know she's probably not interested, but Michelle could be a great politician and yes, even president.

http%3A//youtu.be/M2DL1W4r4h0



• I just think the world of her. She has warmth and poise, and she is so genuine. I can actually see a change in her over these past four years. She is very real! I definitely got the impression that, while she was going to go along with it, she wasn't so keen on Barack running for President in 2008 just because of what it might do to their family life and their daughters. She had reluctantly put up with all the strains of being the wife of a politican and was very dubious. But the you could see how much she got into her job, and how well everything has gone with those beautiful little girls, and she is absolutely passionate to get him relelcted. I've loved her youthfulness as a First Lady too. You don't have to be old to act old and stuffy, but Michelle, with her kitchen gardens, her anti obesity campaign, and her "Let's Move" exercise campaign, and all the support she and Jill Biden have given to military families, I just can't imaging not having her be my First Lady for four more years! They say Obama is leading among the military. Well she can take a lot of credit for that I think. I love that whole family, along with Joe, Jill and all the Bidens. It has been a breath of fresh air to have all of them around. OP, thanks for linking to this speech!

• Agreed! Michelle is pretty & classy, and very likeable.

• I like that her mother helps with the kids and lives in the White House. That's real "family values" IMO

• Since I first became aware of the Obamas, I find myself unconsciously smiling whenever I see them on TV. Smart, warm, grounded, just decent people.

• I watched that speech a few times yesterday because it's that good. She's a terrific public speaker who makes policy dense political speeches seem warm and conversational. Her speech, along with Bill Clinton's, was also THE most powerful and effective at this year's DNC. She's the president's biggest asset and a wonderful representative for our country.

• They are such an adorable, warm, smart family that like r4 it always puts a smile on my face when I see them together. I have noticed that she is almost always referred to as just "Michelle" instead of Mrs. Obama or anything more formal. Sometimes calling someone by their first name is disrespectful, but in her case I think it's because she seems like an amazingly wonderful older sister, or the cool, smart, hip, caring mom in the neighborhood everyone goes to for advice. And I feel confident there will never be any tacky behavior from those girls like the sort the Bush twins were famous for. They come from more humble beginnings than most of the Big Money presidents we've had, but they are the epitome of class and grace. All First Ladies pick causes that are laudable as part of the job, but they often wear them like an ill-fitted suit--you can tell they didn't gave a hoot about their chosen cause until they picked it from the official list of Non-Controversial Causes and proceed to make scripted PSA's. Michelle would be a role model even if she did nothing but be her kind, warm, genuine, strong, smart self. Sappy as this may sound, I think women who have never before seen a woman from Michelle's type of background become the sort of woman she is might be inspired to hope that their daughters could be similarly successful. Okay, I'm like a fangirl. I do not apologize for it.

  Aspie%20Girl

• I love Michelle.

• [quote] I feel confident there will never be any tacky behavior from those girls like the sort the Bush twins were famous for. They come from more humble beginnings than most of the Big Money presidents we've had, but they are the epitome of class and grace. Hmm, not so sure about this. The Obamas didn't exactly have a humble lifestyle before he became president. I agree the girls will turn out great, but it's because the Obamas are *educated,* like the Clintons. That really makes all the difference, more than financial background.

• I know I'm going to be called a freeper, but I'm not. I have to give a tepid defense of the Bush girls. They were just starting college at the beginning of their father's term. Yeah, they were daughter's of a president - yada, yada, yada, but they weren't acting any differently than any other girls their age. Drinking and having a good time in college is hardly tacky, it is a part of growing up.

• I almost picked up a Michelle mask at the store the other day.

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• Yes, but, R9. The Bush girls had already been exposed to what life in the public eye was like -- their dad was governor of Texas, so they knew they were expected to behave themselves. More than that, Chelsea Clinton. Did you ever see stories/photos of her lurching drunkenly through life while she was in college and making public scenes? Thought not.

• Chelsea was a different type of girl, r11.

• She likes herself a little too much and has horrible posture, but she's basically ok.

• Bullshit!

• WHy does she "bug" her eyes out when speaking?

• I never took to her. Don't hate her, don't like her. Obama I like. Michelle just always seem to be trying to make people like her, and doing a crap job at it. It feels forced. It doesn't come off as genuine. She reportedly said she didn't like being First Lady, and it shows. The whole First Lady thing is a bunch of bullshit anyway. Michelle had her own career. She wasn't a homemaker, which is basically what the whole First Lady moniker was all about - this wives that didn't have their own jobs. I always feel bad for these women who are expected to fall into this role, and have to give their "chocolate cookies recipe." It's a sexist role. What would happen if your wife or husband was in Congress, and your spouse ran for president and won? Picture Hillary in the Senate, and Bill in the White House. I wonder what that would have been like. Can ex-presidents run for Congress after they're out of office? Off-topic, but I'm curious.

• The role of the first lady doesn't allow smart and competent women like Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton to use their considerable skills and knowledge. This is why most American women didn't take to Hillary or Michelle. People want a June Cleaver to be First Lady, not strong, accomplished women. We know what they said about Hillary when she was first lady. They attacked Michelle for liking sleeveless dresses and trying to promote good nutrition.

• Michelle is very popular, r17. More popular than Barack, and internationally forget it, she is VERY well liked where ever she travels. Swarms of ittle kids run up to her for hugs,she is that well known and liked outside the US.

• R9, the point is that they didn't have the sense to reign it in while their dad was President. I would never ever put my dad's legacy at stake just to drink. But! I would totally get drunk in the White House and wander around. As far as the Obama girls go, I think the fact that mom and dad worked hard to get where they are will be a huge factor in how they turn out.

• Her ability to seemingly brush off the shit said about her man has honestly made me be more aware of how I respond to negativity. She's either massively well-adjusted or has a sound proof room where she throws a fit and punches an effigy of Ann Coulter.

• I think she's tremendous!

  S.%20Palin

• [quote]I think she's actually a more inspiring and talented public speaker than her husband. And the crowd loves her. I know she's probably not interested, but Michelle could be a great politician and yes, even president. I love her too, OP, but I think the qualifications for President should be a little higher than talented public speaker.

• [quote] I love her too, OP, but I think the qualifications for President should be a little higher than talented public speaker. And, of course, I never said her ONLY talent was as a public speaker, nor did I say that she should go directly from being a public speaker to being president.

  OP

• I'd totally cast a blind cult-of-personality vote for her for Mayor of Chicago. Just putting that out there.

• Yes, but in two sentences you went from talented public speaker to possible president, so one would normally conclude there's not a huge gap of stuff missing in the middle.

• No one who can deliver a speech like her one at the DNC and seem so natural on chat shows dislikes politics, whatever she said in 2008. I think they're like the Clintons plus sex.

• Laura and Barbara Bush received only dutiful coverage by the press as does Mrs. Obama. At first, the press tried to make a big thing about MO, but they got bored because she was quiet and nice with all her projects and they got bored. The media needs too much drama, it's to ADD.

• [quote] Yes, but in two sentences you went from talented public speaker to possible president, so one would normally conclude there's not a huge gap of stuff missing in the middle. OK. How about this: She's a talented public speaker, and one day in the very distant future she might possibly make a good City Council member of some remote village, after she has spent numerous years studying politics. Now are you happy, R22/R25?

  OP

• She's got great child-bearing hips.

  M.%20Romney%20

• No, R21, *I* think she's tremendous.

  P.%20Stone

• I love them, so proud to have them as first family, unlike the Bush clan.

• Me too. It must be how smart people felt when John Kennedy was in the white house.

• I honestly never had much of an opinion about her one way or the other, but I've come to admire the poise and clase she's displayed given the amount of hatred directed towards she & Obama and even their kids. Plus, she's like the 2nd coming of Dolly Madison compared to the humorless, graceless Ann Romney and her band of moronic sons.

• She really is classy.

• JFK was never as smart as the Obamas, or even the Clintons, R32. I know he's lionized by older progressives - and rightly so, at least in some cases - but he's a good example of a mediocre mind writ large by Daddy's largesse.

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