Michelle Obama will step into spotlight Monday night
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Taylorcofan
Aug 24, 2008, 11:00:42 PM8/24/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
Michelle Obama will step into spotlight Monday night
WASHINGTON — She's graced the cover of warm-and-fuzzy family
magazines, been caricatured as an angry black nationalist, dished the
dirt with the women on "The View" and been labeled one of the world's
best-dressed women.
So who is Michelle Obama?
The nation will get some answers Monday night when the wife of
presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama delivers a
prime-time speech at the Democratic National Convention. It's a coming-
out address designed to introduce her to a public that seems to know
little about her beyond some of the controversial gaffes she's made on
the campaign trail.
"It's the opportunity for Michelle to tell the story of her life,"
said Valerie Jarrett, a Chicago businesswoman, longtime Obama family
friend and senior adviser to Obama's campaign. "It will be a very
personal story that she tells. We want to give them (voters) a sense
of the Obama family and how they would be in the White House."
What Michelle Obama says and how she presents herself to the
conventioneers in Denver and a national television audience could
affect the presidential campaign. Americans don't vote for first
ladies, presidential historians and first-lady scholars say, but how a
candidate's spouse or family is viewed can reinforce positive or
negative feelings in voters' minds. Jacqueline Kennedy, for example,
buttressed her husband's image as the youthful leader of a new
generation of American politicians.
In a recent Rasmussen Reports survey, 61 percent of Americans said
that their perceptions of presidential candidates' wives were at least
somewhat important in how they voted. Women seem to give them more
scrutiny: Seventy-one percent of the women in the survey said that
spousal perception was important, compared with 48 percent of the men.
Michelle Obama, a 44-year-old lawyer, hospital executive and mother of
two, will present herself as the quintessential up-by-your-bootstraps
American success story. Born Michelle Robinson, she was raised in a
one-bedroom apartment in a brick bungalow on Chicago's South Side.
Her mother, Marian, was a stay-at-home mom. Her father, Fraser, worked
for the city water department as he battled multiple sclerosis. Both
instilled a drive to succeed in their two children.
Michelle's older brother, Craig, was a star athlete who earned a
scholarship to Princeton University. Today he's the head basketball
coach at Oregon State University. He'll introduce his sister at the
convention Monday night.
She followed him to Princeton, where she graduated in 1985 with a
bachelor's degree in sociology and a minor in African-American
studies. She went on to Harvard Law School, where she earned her
degree in 1988.
She joined the prestigious Chicago law firm of Sidley & Austin, where
in 1989 she was assigned to mentor a young summer associate whose
picture she found unimpressive.
"I thought, 'OK, he's probably not all that terrific, and he's
probably kind of a clown,' and then I found out that his name was
Barack Obama," she told the Chicago Sun-Times in 2004. "And like
everybody else, I thought, 'Well, what kind of name is that?' "
They were married three years later.
Michelle Obama has worked for the University of Chicago since 1996.
She's the vice president of community and external affairs for the
university's medical center, though she's been on leave since January
to help with her husband's campaign.
Recent polls show that voters like Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain,
the wife of presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain,
almost equally, though many people also indicated that they either
don't know a lot about them or don't have opinions either way.
Michelle Obama has been more visible on the campaign trail than Cindy
McCain has, increasing her chances of on-the-stump mistakes and making
her an inviting target for her husband's opponents.
She generated controversy in February when she said "for the first
time in my adult lifetime I am really proud of my country." A Fox News
Channel video scroll referred to her as Obama's "baby mama" and a
commentator on the same conservative network wondered aloud whether a
seemingly playful fist bump that she and her husband had exchanged was
a "terrorist fist jab."
In June, the Obama campaign, on a Web site it had created to debunk
rumors, said that Michelle Obama had never spoken from the pulpit of
Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ and used the phrase
"whitey." Rumors were circulating on conservative Republican blogs and
talk radio shows that she'd launched into such a diatribe at the
controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church and that it was captured
on tape.
"She has been absolutely savaged by the talk shows. Rush Limbaugh and
Sean Hannity pull her apart almost every day," said Myra Gutin, a
communications professor at New Jersey's Rider University and the
author of "Barbara Bush: Presidential Matriarch." "They think she's
unpatriotic and has a hidden agenda."
The New Yorker magazine added fuel to the fire with a July cover
cartoon depicting the Obamas standing in the Oval Office with a
picture of Osama bin Laden over a fireplace with an American flag
burning in it. Barack Obama, in Muslim garb, is fist-bumping an angry-
looking wife clad in combat fatigues, with a cartridge belt and rifle
slung over her shoulder and a 1960s Angela Davis-style Afro atop her
head.
The Obama campaign called the cartoon "tasteless and offensive."
Jarrett said Michelle Obama shrugged off the magazine cover and other
incidents as "par for the course" in the age of negative campaigning.
"She's strong and has a good sense of self," Jarrett said. "She knows
who she is and where she comes from."
Politically attacking or satirizing the wives of political figures is
nothing new. Foes of 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry
tried to paint his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, as an abrasive, rich,
foreign-born environmentalist-radical.
Hillary Clinton was blasted as a power-hungry spouse who wanted to be
co-president when her husband occupied the Oval Office. Some people
criticized Betty Ford for being too candid and outspoken about her
breast cancer surgery.
Some political observers think that there's a racial element to the
criticisms of Michelle Obama, who, if her husband is elected, would be
the first African-American first lady in American history.
"It (first lady) is one of the ultimate symbols of grace, femininity
and American womanhood. It will take some Americans a moment to have
that symbolized by a black woman," said Keli Goff, a political
commentator and blogger. "On top of that, with Michelle Obama, there's
the stereotype about 'the angry black woman.' Some of her mannerisms
will be looked at through a different magnifying glass because she is
black."
WASHINGTON — She's graced the cover of warm-and-fuzzy family
magazines, been caricatured as an angry black nationalist, dished the
dirt with the women on "The View" and been labeled one of the world's
best-dressed women.
So who is Michelle Obama?
The nation will get some answers Monday night when the wife of
presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama delivers a
prime-time speech at the Democratic National Convention. It's a coming-
out address designed to introduce her to a public that seems to know
little about her beyond some of the controversial gaffes she's made on
the campaign trail.
"It's the opportunity for Michelle to tell the story of her life,"
said Valerie Jarrett, a Chicago businesswoman, longtime Obama family
friend and senior adviser to Obama's campaign. "It will be a very
personal story that she tells. We want to give them (voters) a sense
of the Obama family and how they would be in the White House."
What Michelle Obama says and how she presents herself to the
conventioneers in Denver and a national television audience could
affect the presidential campaign. Americans don't vote for first
ladies, presidential historians and first-lady scholars say, but how a
candidate's spouse or family is viewed can reinforce positive or
negative feelings in voters' minds. Jacqueline Kennedy, for example,
buttressed her husband's image as the youthful leader of a new
generation of American politicians.
In a recent Rasmussen Reports survey, 61 percent of Americans said
that their perceptions of presidential candidates' wives were at least
somewhat important in how they voted. Women seem to give them more
scrutiny: Seventy-one percent of the women in the survey said that
spousal perception was important, compared with 48 percent of the men.
Michelle Obama, a 44-year-old lawyer, hospital executive and mother of
two, will present herself as the quintessential up-by-your-bootstraps
American success story. Born Michelle Robinson, she was raised in a
one-bedroom apartment in a brick bungalow on Chicago's South Side.
Her mother, Marian, was a stay-at-home mom. Her father, Fraser, worked
for the city water department as he battled multiple sclerosis. Both
instilled a drive to succeed in their two children.
Michelle's older brother, Craig, was a star athlete who earned a
scholarship to Princeton University. Today he's the head basketball
coach at Oregon State University. He'll introduce his sister at the
convention Monday night.
She followed him to Princeton, where she graduated in 1985 with a
bachelor's degree in sociology and a minor in African-American
studies. She went on to Harvard Law School, where she earned her
degree in 1988.
She joined the prestigious Chicago law firm of Sidley & Austin, where
in 1989 she was assigned to mentor a young summer associate whose
picture she found unimpressive.
"I thought, 'OK, he's probably not all that terrific, and he's
probably kind of a clown,' and then I found out that his name was
Barack Obama," she told the Chicago Sun-Times in 2004. "And like
everybody else, I thought, 'Well, what kind of name is that?' "
They were married three years later.
Michelle Obama has worked for the University of Chicago since 1996.
She's the vice president of community and external affairs for the
university's medical center, though she's been on leave since January
to help with her husband's campaign.
Recent polls show that voters like Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain,
the wife of presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain,
almost equally, though many people also indicated that they either
don't know a lot about them or don't have opinions either way.
Michelle Obama has been more visible on the campaign trail than Cindy
McCain has, increasing her chances of on-the-stump mistakes and making
her an inviting target for her husband's opponents.
She generated controversy in February when she said "for the first
time in my adult lifetime I am really proud of my country." A Fox News
Channel video scroll referred to her as Obama's "baby mama" and a
commentator on the same conservative network wondered aloud whether a
seemingly playful fist bump that she and her husband had exchanged was
a "terrorist fist jab."
In June, the Obama campaign, on a Web site it had created to debunk
rumors, said that Michelle Obama had never spoken from the pulpit of
Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ and used the phrase
"whitey." Rumors were circulating on conservative Republican blogs and
talk radio shows that she'd launched into such a diatribe at the
controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church and that it was captured
on tape.
"She has been absolutely savaged by the talk shows. Rush Limbaugh and
Sean Hannity pull her apart almost every day," said Myra Gutin, a
communications professor at New Jersey's Rider University and the
author of "Barbara Bush: Presidential Matriarch." "They think she's
unpatriotic and has a hidden agenda."
The New Yorker magazine added fuel to the fire with a July cover
cartoon depicting the Obamas standing in the Oval Office with a
picture of Osama bin Laden over a fireplace with an American flag
burning in it. Barack Obama, in Muslim garb, is fist-bumping an angry-
looking wife clad in combat fatigues, with a cartridge belt and rifle
slung over her shoulder and a 1960s Angela Davis-style Afro atop her
head.
The Obama campaign called the cartoon "tasteless and offensive."
Jarrett said Michelle Obama shrugged off the magazine cover and other
incidents as "par for the course" in the age of negative campaigning.
"She's strong and has a good sense of self," Jarrett said. "She knows
who she is and where she comes from."
Politically attacking or satirizing the wives of political figures is
nothing new. Foes of 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry
tried to paint his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, as an abrasive, rich,
foreign-born environmentalist-radical.
Hillary Clinton was blasted as a power-hungry spouse who wanted to be
co-president when her husband occupied the Oval Office. Some people
criticized Betty Ford for being too candid and outspoken about her
breast cancer surgery.
Some political observers think that there's a racial element to the
criticisms of Michelle Obama, who, if her husband is elected, would be
the first African-American first lady in American history.
"It (first lady) is one of the ultimate symbols of grace, femininity
and American womanhood. It will take some Americans a moment to have
that symbolized by a black woman," said Keli Goff, a political
commentator and blogger. "On top of that, with Michelle Obama, there's
the stereotype about 'the angry black woman.' Some of her mannerisms
will be looked at through a different magnifying glass because she is
black."
CyclePro
Aug 25, 2008, 8:47:25 AM8/25/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
And do any Feminists out there have a Problem with Michelle doubling
her Salary and then some after her husband ear-marked over $1 Million
dollars to her employer? She went from being paid $120,000/year to
over $250,000.
Equal Pay for Equal Work at its Finest... She's stated she's against
School Vouchers, yet sends her own daughters to Private School.
Not bad for claiming she'd just now seemed to "Like America".
I guess Obama has learned to "Play" the "Game" and isn't a New
Politician... How much many do people think he's going to have to
Repay his Special Interests that are $$$Millions into his Campaign?
After all he's been making some might pricey promises.
Is it "A Chicken in Every Pot"? and if you don't like his policies he
can always claim it's because you are racist or you "Hate Children"?
No wonder the dude won't openly debate McCain at any "TownHalls".
her Salary and then some after her husband ear-marked over $1 Million
dollars to her employer? She went from being paid $120,000/year to
over $250,000.
Equal Pay for Equal Work at its Finest... She's stated she's against
School Vouchers, yet sends her own daughters to Private School.
Not bad for claiming she'd just now seemed to "Like America".
I guess Obama has learned to "Play" the "Game" and isn't a New
Politician... How much many do people think he's going to have to
Repay his Special Interests that are $$$Millions into his Campaign?
After all he's been making some might pricey promises.
Is it "A Chicken in Every Pot"? and if you don't like his policies he
can always claim it's because you are racist or you "Hate Children"?
No wonder the dude won't openly debate McCain at any "TownHalls".
Taylorcofan
Aug 25, 2008, 8:53:33 AM8/25/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
Your post sounds much like sour grapes to me. But I am just reading.,
being the man you say.. you are....I bet you're thrilled..... that
Mrs. Obama is finally getting what she is worth. Ahhhh isn't it great
to be an American, equal pay for equal work.
You go girl!
> > black."- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
being the man you say.. you are....I bet you're thrilled..... that
Mrs. Obama is finally getting what she is worth. Ahhhh isn't it great
to be an American, equal pay for equal work.
You go girl!
>
> - Show quoted text -
CyclePro
Aug 25, 2008, 9:15:49 AM8/25/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
Nope no sour grapes here TCF, I prefer the Merit Pay system. However
it is quite interesting that that salary increase was "After" Obama
became a US Senator and ear-marked some cash to the Hospital.
Political Deals are nothing knew. After all Chicago Politics are
known for their "Patronage Deals".
It doesn't take much to use Human Resource Tools such as Salary.com to
discover what the "Prevailing Wage/Salary" is for the Position that
Mrs. Obama is in. The salary puts her "Way Above" her Peers in the
Industry. Is she a "Super-Star"? Maybe, but in Business you do have
to make sure that deals such as this are "At Arm's Length".
I also added the kicker about School Vouchers. I'd like to know why
she feels Private Schools are good for her kids but denies the ability
for other African Americans to obtain Vouchers for those very same
Schools?
Shouldn't that be explored?
> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
it is quite interesting that that salary increase was "After" Obama
became a US Senator and ear-marked some cash to the Hospital.
Political Deals are nothing knew. After all Chicago Politics are
known for their "Patronage Deals".
It doesn't take much to use Human Resource Tools such as Salary.com to
discover what the "Prevailing Wage/Salary" is for the Position that
Mrs. Obama is in. The salary puts her "Way Above" her Peers in the
Industry. Is she a "Super-Star"? Maybe, but in Business you do have
to make sure that deals such as this are "At Arm's Length".
I also added the kicker about School Vouchers. I'd like to know why
she feels Private Schools are good for her kids but denies the ability
for other African Americans to obtain Vouchers for those very same
Schools?
Shouldn't that be explored?
rwhi...@elkcreek.net
Aug 25, 2008, 9:17:59 AM8/25/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
....Yep!!!
rockhead
Aug 25, 2008, 1:28:31 PM8/25/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
I don't like her one bit, she reminds me of John Kerry's old
lady.........shewwwwww!
On Aug 25, 8:17 am, "rwhitl...@elkcreek.net" <rwhitl...@elkcreek.net>
wrote:
> > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
lady.........shewwwwww!
On Aug 25, 8:17 am, "rwhitl...@elkcreek.net" <rwhitl...@elkcreek.net>
wrote:
cheshirecatldy
Aug 25, 2008, 2:03:48 PM8/25/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
I think she is a bitch and she is more of a man than her husband, I
bet she can give answers.
I might like her!!
On Aug 25, 9:17 am, "rwhitl...@elkcreek.net" <rwhitl...@elkcreek.net>
wrote:
> > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
bet she can give answers.
I might like her!!
On Aug 25, 9:17 am, "rwhitl...@elkcreek.net" <rwhitl...@elkcreek.net>
wrote:
fisherman
Aug 25, 2008, 2:59:56 PM8/25/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
CCL I have to wonder what she might think you are. Do you think she
would think you were feminine or masculine?
Do you think she would consider you a qualified authority on any
subject of consequence? LOL
You might like her but she might not like you.
would think you were feminine or masculine?
Do you think she would consider you a qualified authority on any
subject of consequence? LOL
You might like her but she might not like you.
cheshirecatldy
Aug 25, 2008, 3:24:21 PM8/25/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
oh fish, she wouldnt like me a bit. Does that hurt my feelings? what
do YOU think?
fish,I know I have a set when needed! I bet she does too!!!
oh yea I AM a qualified authority, ever hear "it takes one to know
one"?!!!! I am sure if that woman got to know me at all she would have
the same EXACT viewpoint of me as I do of her! On any subject of
consequence? I would hope not, since I wouldnt listen to her if
someone paid me!!! Do YOU think she would listen to ME?
hahahahahahha yea right!!
you are too cute!!!
> ...
>
> read more »- Hide quoted text -
do YOU think?
fish,I know I have a set when needed! I bet she does too!!!
oh yea I AM a qualified authority, ever hear "it takes one to know
one"?!!!! I am sure if that woman got to know me at all she would have
the same EXACT viewpoint of me as I do of her! On any subject of
consequence? I would hope not, since I wouldnt listen to her if
someone paid me!!! Do YOU think she would listen to ME?
hahahahahahha yea right!!
you are too cute!!!
>
> read more »- Hide quoted text -
cheshirecatldy
Aug 25, 2008, 3:25:59 PM8/25/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
ps Fish
where have you been? havent heard from ya in a while
where have you been? havent heard from ya in a while
Monica
Aug 25, 2008, 4:03:03 PM8/25/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
BTW - speaking of women in Obama's life, Oprah has rented a home in
Denver...$50,000 rent ... To be present when Obama give his
acceptance speech.
I hope that Michelle doesn't refer to her husband as "my Man, my Honey
and my baby's Daddy" tonight like she has in the past. That's a little
too much for me!
Denver...$50,000 rent ... To be present when Obama give his
acceptance speech.
I hope that Michelle doesn't refer to her husband as "my Man, my Honey
and my baby's Daddy" tonight like she has in the past. That's a little
too much for me!
cheshirecatldy
Aug 25, 2008, 4:07:08 PM8/25/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
I wonder if she is trying to convince herself!!!! (michelle,not o)
> ...
>
> read more »
>
> read more »
fisherman
Aug 25, 2008, 4:11:14 PM8/25/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
I think it's better than what John McCain calls his wife. Now that
was a little much. Poor woman, I bet she'll think twice about running
her fingers through what's left of his hair again!!!!!! LOL
was a little much. Poor woman, I bet she'll think twice about running
her fingers through what's left of his hair again!!!!!! LOL
cheshirecatldy
Aug 25, 2008, 4:14:54 PM8/25/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
oopps gotta agree with that one!!!
I wonder why it upset him so?
I wonder why it upset him so?
cheshirecatldy
Aug 25, 2008, 4:19:14 PM8/25/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
ps
if my old man called me the C bomb
especially out in public
oh it would not be pretty!!!!
she should have grabbed that thinnin hair and yanked it out by
roots!!!
if my old man called me the C bomb
especially out in public
oh it would not be pretty!!!!
she should have grabbed that thinnin hair and yanked it out by
roots!!!
rwhi...@elkcreek.net
Aug 25, 2008, 10:22:54 PM8/25/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
If my wife referred to me as "her old man" I would call the redneck
police and have her hair shaved into a rebel flag...
police and have her hair shaved into a rebel flag...
sadness
Aug 25, 2008, 10:45:18 PM8/25/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
Micheile Obuma has the personalities of four very nasty and barbaric
people Attila the Hun,Adolf Hitler, Genghis Khan and Grigori Rasputin
On Aug 25, 10:22 pm, "rwhitl...@elkcreek.net" <rwhitl...@elkcreek.net>
wrote:
people Attila the Hun,Adolf Hitler, Genghis Khan and Grigori Rasputin
On Aug 25, 10:22 pm, "rwhitl...@elkcreek.net" <rwhitl...@elkcreek.net>
wrote:
cheshirecatldy
Aug 26, 2008, 8:56:02 AM8/26/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
oh RW you would not!!!!!
I know the redneck po-leese so if you need em, I can git em fer ya!!!
> > > > too much for me!- Hide quoted text -
I know the redneck po-leese so if you need em, I can git em fer ya!!!
Bill
Aug 26, 2008, 9:08:49 AM8/26/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
Is RW finally seeing the light?!?!
Come on over RW the water is fine. No Kool-Aid here!
> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
Come on over RW the water is fine. No Kool-Aid here!
cheshirecatldy
Aug 26, 2008, 9:10:18 AM8/26/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
I think he is having a bad morning Bill, he sounds grumpy
Foxtrot
Aug 26, 2008, 10:27:19 AM8/26/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
He desperately misses Frug setting the record straight for him. I have
a feeling if RW even touched his wife's hair, his wouldn't be pretty.
a feeling if RW even touched his wife's hair, his wouldn't be pretty.
cheshirecatldy
Aug 26, 2008, 10:40:42 AM8/26/08
to Talk Marion County 24/7
she would probably snatch it straight off of her old man's head!!!!!!
;0
;0
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