Michelle Obama will be one COOL First Lady
Hopefully many folks nationwide tuned in to Larry King's interview of Michelle Obama tonight (Wed. 10/8) on CNN. What a cool, intellectually capable, gracious future First Lady. What a break from the bland Republican Prez wives from too many years past.
To get it out of the way: "First Lady" is of course a derogatory term, left over from the days that a respectable woman had to be termed "lady" when by definition all women are respectable to start with. And I can't wait to see a "First Gentleman" some time during my lifetime. And no, not a "First Dude", puhleez.
The first thing that struck me is how gracious, and also politically savvy, Michelle Obama proved to be in this interview. The obnoxious "That Guy" comment by McCain? Just par for the course, my husband & I don't get angry at that, what gets Obama's pulse up are the injustices and inequities of the current system, in salary disparities between males and females, in health care problems, etc. Classy, and scoring many points politically. She also managed to praise Sarah Palin for her achievements as making it as a woman/mother/politician without even batting an eye. In spite of the racialy-tinged vitriol the Attack Moose has been spewing lately.
The second thing was how obviously smart Michelle Obama is. She had answers ready even when asked a few "gotcha" questions (Larry King is good at that) and knew how to deflect them and turn them into points scoring not only for her husband, but for what is genuinely in the interest of the nation.
As it increasingly looks like she will be the "First Lady" I'm beginning to wonder where her political future might be. We need more women like her in public life... I guess as Obama will be vacating his IL Senator seat it wouldn't be quite right to have his wife be appointed to replace him (tantalizing prospect though) but some time after she is freed for the FirstLadydom she would be an excellent second incarnation of a President's wife making it into a Senate seat. Wouldn't that be a wonderful testament to Hillary Clinton's groundbreaking surge into political meaningfulness after her "First Dude" had to fade out?
To get it out of the way: "First Lady" is of course a derogatory term, left over from the days that a respectable woman had to be termed "lady" when by definition all women are respectable to start with. And I can't wait to see a "First Gentleman" some time during my lifetime. And no, not a "First Dude", puhleez.
The first thing that struck me is how gracious, and also politically savvy, Michelle Obama proved to be in this interview. The obnoxious "That Guy" comment by McCain? Just par for the course, my husband & I don't get angry at that, what gets Obama's pulse up are the injustices and inequities of the current system, in salary disparities between males and females, in health care problems, etc. Classy, and scoring many points politically. She also managed to praise Sarah Palin for her achievements as making it as a woman/mother/politician without even batting an eye. In spite of the racialy-tinged vitriol the Attack Moose has been spewing lately.
The second thing was how obviously smart Michelle Obama is. She had answers ready even when asked a few "gotcha" questions (Larry King is good at that) and knew how to deflect them and turn them into points scoring not only for her husband, but for what is genuinely in the interest of the nation.
As it increasingly looks like she will be the "First Lady" I'm beginning to wonder where her political future might be. We need more women like her in public life... I guess as Obama will be vacating his IL Senator seat it wouldn't be quite right to have his wife be appointed to replace him (tantalizing prospect though) but some time after she is freed for the FirstLadydom she would be an excellent second incarnation of a President's wife making it into a Senate seat. Wouldn't that be a wonderful testament to Hillary Clinton's groundbreaking surge into political meaningfulness after her "First Dude" had to fade out?