Obama Defends Wife Over 'Pride' Remark

BROOKFIELD, Wis. — Democratic Sen. Barack Obama sought Tuesday to clarify his wife's statement that she is proud of the U.S. "for the first time in my adult life." He said her newfound pride is about the political system and was not meant to disparage her country.

He commented after Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, made a veiled reference to Michelle Obama's recent remarks.

Cindy McCain told a Wisconsin rally on Tuesday: "I'm proud of my country, I don't know about you, if you heard those words earlier."

Barack Obama, interviewed on WOAI radio in San Antonio, Texas, expressed frustration that his wife's comments became political fodder.

"Statements like this are made and people try to take it out of context and make a great big deal out of it, and that isn't at all what she meant," Obama said.

"What she meant was, this is the first time that she's been proud of the politics of America," he said. "Because she's pretty cynical about the political process, and with good reason, and she's not alone. But she has seen large numbers of people get involved in the process, and she's encouraged."

In Milwaukee on Monday, Michelle Obama said: "Let me tell you, for the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country. Not just because Barack is doing well, but I think people are hungry for change."

Cindy McCain asserted, "I have, and always will be, proud of my country," and repeated the sentiment later in Columbus, Ohio.

Comments

[joeysky]

American will vote for a white male to be their president.

[nihilon x]

Its always interesting to me how the biggest Obama dissidents tend to have spelling and grammar issues -- which tells me a lot about the level of intelligence of said posters as well.

You don't have a crystal ball, you don't know what "American" will do.

None of us will, until the last vote is cast.

[fearwig]

Every racist you meet will say: "Oh yeah, everybody else thinks that too. They just don't have the balls to say it!"

Because that's how they sleep at night.

[yabu]

Why do people care about what other people feel is beyond me. But anyway, could we see the evidence for this:

"I have, and always will be, proud of my country,"

[kevenseven]

Does she need to throw herself on a grenade?

[MRb1000]

Oh Bill Oreally is waiting to lynch her.

[farseer]

It's poor diction.

[knixphan]

It's not the Repubs who Cindy's sold to, it's the 'Have-more­s'...

"I have, and always will be, proud of the 2% of the population who possess the majority of the wealth. That's MY America, the one where corporations reign supreme, and where that Obama girl knows her place..."

[kennedy]

CNN reported a few weeks ago that "Obama Girl" never went and voted for Obama. Can you believe that? What a load.

[researcher]

I am a proud american and resent her comments. what other country can kill over 1 million vietnamese in a war based on lies and still call our soldiers heros and no country puts us up for war crimes.

then we can invade iraq and take control of thier oil reserves and again no country puts us up for war crimes.

god it feels good to be american. god bless america truly god's country.

we dont even have to pay for our own wars the chinese have done it for us. feels good to be an american.

my neighbor just went bankrupt over medical bills and is selling his house under market value and I can make a ton of money off that house.

god I love capitalism no commie universal health care for me. what good is capitalism if we cannot make huge profits off the sick and needy. cant wait for a payday loan office on every street corner.

american imperialism and wars for profits forever baby.

signed proud american

not like obama's wife. like mc cain I am always proud to be an american no matter how many people we kill in the world.

now lets get with it and bomb bomb iran.$$$$$­$$$

[iPolitics]

Cindy McCain: "Hillary and I have a lot in common. Our husbands aren't faithful to us."

[kevenseven]

Ouch! That sounds pretty optimistic of you. We will have no more.

[quintus]

I lost respect for McCain awhile ago, and now have occasion to lose respect for his wife. What an incredibly cheap shot; twist her comment into something totally other than what it was. And slam her for her supposed lack of patriotism.

This is the couple who want to represent America as President and First Lady? Wow. How inspiring.

[j0e]

The self-righteous, knee-jerk spluttering "how dare she!"s here are amusing at best. This country has a lot going for it. But some very dark things as well. That's why people like Michelle marry people like Barack. Even though their experience and observation (in this case, very well educated observation) show them our decline in educational standing, support for dictators, failing to ban Land Mines, people like Michelle are still capable of the the trust required for this kind of civilization to exist and reach out to people like Obama who exemplify the very best of what our country has to offer. To those who analyze the acts of our Nation through rose-colored and manipulable glasses and who insist upon a kind of robotic pride reaction mechanism I ask: Who wasn't ashamed of our support for dictators like Samosa, Suharto and Marcos (to name a minute fraction) around the world for decades and decades? In the meantime we are leading wars against indigenous people and sovereign nations for personal gain while using words like "Freedom Fighter" for people who burned nuns and used death squads to cleanse entire regions... This is also the nation that fought for the liberty of free people around the globe in World War II. Who first engaged the world in dialog with the United Nations. The nation that brought a wondrous and sustained revolution in technology and The Nation who's founding document is arguably the best in the history of Nations. In light of our past, her (Michelle Obama) statement was real, and right on. This is also the first time I have been proud of my country in a long, long time. It doesn't mean she doesn't love you, patriots. It's just there have been too few REAL ones around for awhile...

[shano]

wow j0e, well said.
..

[ESerafina42]

It seems like she hates Bill and Hillary Clinton so much that she can't say ANYthing that might possibly be construed as meaning that he might have been a halfway decent president. Well the same people who went after him will be after her and her husband, and we'll see how much all the pretty speeches "change" things.

[iburl]

REALLY proud. First time she's REALLY proud. The word REALLY keeps getting skipped, and it totally changes the context of the comment to leave out the word really. I find it quite odd that upon examination of the video clip on right wing sites the word REALLY is obscured by an audio "glitch", but you can watch her lips and hear the word behind the glitch. I wonder who put the glitch in the audio?

[Ramirez]

She gave her stump speech twice that day. On both occasions she used the "first time I'm proud" line. The second time she added the word "really."

Here is a video clip with cuts of both speeches:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGjR81pFJI4

The word "really" has nothing to do with the context. It was a scripted line in her standard stump speech and it drew applause both times.

[gotalife]

What about O'Reilly lynching comment?

Too bad he is not a fighter like Clinton.

She would have him suspended like Shuster.

The Clintons are fighters, this guy is weak.

They are going to run over him.

[knixphan]

or maybe he's not petty.

[nomobull]

yeah they've done a wonderful job so far.

[nomobull]

my guess right about now cindy wishes she had kept her mouth shut.

[UrbanInterloper]

"Really proud" vs. proud. That's the difference, the emphasis. Michelle Obama was saying that she was exceptionally proud of her country with that remark. The criticisms are a cheap shot.

[Fernando]

Yeah right. I only wish the media and Obama fans looked at what Bill Clinton says with the same type of empathy. Had he said something equivalent to this they'd be burning him right now. The left media is now doing what the right wing did in the '90s; vilifying and crucifying Clinton for the smallest detail.

Everyone knows what she meant; a lot of minorities, especially African Americans haven't felt included enough to be proud of this country, and you can argue -to an extent- with good reason (and a great many of them served and serve absolutely admirably). However, this is precisely how you can alienate a big % of the electorate.

Consider this, if I go to Washington Heights in NYC and tell a group of Dominicans, Puerto Ricans and Cubans that African Americans are hysteric in believing illegal aliens take their jobs, I guarantee you I'd get an standing ovation. Well, that's how you win votes in NYC, but that is precisely how I could lose North Carolina.

Somehow though, the fallout from this comment doesn't merit the same attention from Huffpost as Clinton did when he wagged a finger.

[Rubiconski]

Hillaryous BIO piece on MSNBC on Hillary...­...how she inspired her class of wealthy white debutantes at Wellesley with her anti-war speech. They were thrilled and some said "someday she will be president.­"

While still at Wellesley she "scored" big.......­nailing and eventually marrying Bill Clinton, future disgraced president. All her friends said "Hillary, honey....a­re you sure you wanna move to Fayetteville?"

And that's about it......he­r "credentials" to become president.

OMFG!!!!! Totally ridiculous that this woman thinks she's more qualified than Barack Obama!!!

[yoyo1959]

That you negate and ignore a 30+ year history of volunteering, working for the good of common people, going abroad and speaking out against the abuse of children and of women, for women's rights etc and so on...belie­s your utter ignorance of her career. But then you probably don't understand what I just said...BTW­, what ARE Obama's qualifications and what has he done exactly?

[shano]

Taught Constitutional law, worked with the poor, met his goals as State Senator, then Congress.

He is an interesting guy. Ran a great campaign, had the leadership to oppose starting the Iraq war, when that was very risky.

People around the world like him a a lot.

[GJP2006]

Of course she was talking in the political context - geez. She came of age during the Reagan/Bush 1 years - nothing to be proud of their as a Democrat; During the Clinton years and up to the Bush 2 years we have had non-stop tearing each other down and hyper-partisanship on both sides of the aisle. She refers to the post-partisanship 80s and 90s that folks are hoping for. This makes perfect sense. Give her a break.

[Fernando]

Oh please, be honest about it, she wasn't talking about politics, she was talking about the country, plain and simple.

I empathize with her, but this is not the type of thing you say on the stump for the presidency in any country, especially against republicans and McCain himself. Bad, bad move.

[shano]

How do you know she did not merely miss speak at an emotional time? Everyone makes these kind of exagerated blunders. everyone, even you Fernando.

[GJP2006]

Amazing that you have the "plain and simple" interpretation - such insight you possess. I take the candidate his wife at their words. Not worried too much about McCain - he has his own issues to deal with if you have read the NY Times...

[stoprollingover]

And your credentials for perfection are....?

Oh, really? You say you've never phrased something the wrong way? Never once got a little tongue-tied? Even when public speaking?

What an absolute miracle! Please tell us how you achieved such perfection!

[horacekent]

To the great people of Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island & Vermont,

Please do us all a favor & finally close the door on the Clintons.

You're the Closers. Lets do this thing!

~HK