Michelle Obama: People Shouldn't Vote On Whether They Like "That Guy" Or "She's Cute"... "And I'm Talking About Me"

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michelle Obama asked voters Thursday to make their choice on the issues, not because, "I like that guy" or, "she's cute."

Might she be talking about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin?

"I'm talking about me," she said with a smile.

Barack Obama's wife, however, is not on the ticket in the presidential election. Palin is.

Michelle Obama is part of a concerted effort involving her husband, his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to neutralize the appeal that Palin has brought to John McCain's ticket for some female voters. They are doing so unmistakably but gingerly, so as to not appear sexist or invite another lipstick-on-a-pig tempest.

Michelle Obama's remarks came at a women's roundtable on the economy. She told the audience of 600 that her husband is the only candidate focused on equal pay, health care, affordable college, teacher recruitment and other issues of concern to women. She said that's what the election should be about.

"People shouldn't make a decision this time based on, 'I like that guy' or 'she's cute,'" she said.

The line won a big round of applause. Before it subsided, she interjected: "And I'm talking about me."

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She did not talk about Palin directly in her remarks. Her supportive crowd did, chanting "No Palin" before the event started.

Michelle Obama opened her week by telling supporters in a memo that "women voters could decide this election" _ words that have amounted to marching orders _ and said Thursday they "are going to make the difference."

Biden has been talking about what Obama would do to help women achieve pay equity with men, a subject Obama is highlighting in TV and radio ads. Clinton has been working hard to keep the millions of women who supported her over Obama in the primaries from drifting to the GOP ticket.

Clinton and Biden joined in a Webcast this week with tens of thousands of her supporters. The Obama campaign also is trumpeting the endorsement of Lilly Ledbetter, the former auto parts worker who successfully took her equal pay dispute to the Supreme Court.

Author, poet and former Clinton backer Maya Angelou capped Michelle Obama's outreach by introducing her on stage at an event Thursday in Greensboro.

"We need you," Michelle Obama told the women she addressed in Charlotte. "Our families need you. Our country needs you."

Trisha Redwine, a lifelong Democrat in Charlotte, said women didn't seem to be needed by the Democratic ticket until recently. "It's almost like we didn't even matter until Sarah Palin came into the picture," she said.

Redwine backed Clinton in the primaries and now speaks favorably of McCain's efforts on family medical leave and family-friendly workplaces.

Eleanor Brawley, 75, of Charlotte said Michelle Obama's speech convinced her that the Democratic candidate is better suited to handle issues important to women. "I've always been described as a feminist," she said, "and I don't see Sarah Palin as a feminist."

Polls suggest Palin, the Alaska governor, has helped McCain tighten the race.

Obama narrowly led among women 49 percent to 44 percent but trailed McCain among white women 53 percent to 40 percent in an Associated Press-GfK Poll of likely voters this month.

Republicans cried sexism when Obama described McCain's policies as lipstick on a pig, days after Palin made a lipstick joke at the GOP convention. Obama's remarks were not about Palin and McCain himself said he did not think his rival was calling Palin a pig. But the storm, stoked by McCain's campaign, went on for days.

Comments

[tdazo]

THE TRUE WINNER: OBAMA

[enufsaid]

If you really think that the "cute " comment was not directed at Sarah Palin then you must also think that the Reverend Wright never said "damn the United States". Or maybe you think that Michelle never said that she had never been proud of America...She needs to go back into the closet where they have been hiding her because she opens up her mouth and sticks her big foot right in!
Sarah Palin is no more qualified to be Vice President than Obama is President. When all is said and done, no matter who gets elected, there wll be only one change in the White House and that is the bed linens...For the rest, same old empty promises on the campaign and same old backtracking once in office..

[goldnchyl]

you don't really want to talk about reverends do you?

http://www.masslive.com/forums/politics/index.ssf?artid=518321

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#26798219

[enufsaid]

Absolutely! Are you really going to site as a reputable source for this Rev Muthie stuff the llikes of Keith Olberman? Do you realize that he and Chris Mathews were so over the line at the convention that they were ceremoniously taken off the front line by their own NBC bosses? What does that tell you about their fair journalistic tactics? By the way if you Google Sarah Palin and the Rev Muthie all references seem to link back to only his opinion piece.
Please, at least make a credible argument. What is your opinion on the 20 years Obama and his Harvard grad wife sat in Wright's church and claimed not to know anything about his views? Answer truthfully if you can...

[Lady Lynn de Rthschild]

Granted Michelle Obama is bright and articulate, rather amazing considering she's so common. But I don't think we should vote for those who happen to be intelligent, kind, loyal, decent human beings...even if they understand the structure and form of the government and Constitution.

We need to vote for those who will put more money in my pocket.

...now get to work. You people are so lazy.

[FirstShirt]

It's ok. You can call a republican woman beautiful or cute. Republicans aren't offended and even still open the doors for women.

[beboy]

That's fine, but John McCain thinks it ok to even pay them more!

[MplsGirl]

Only so they can look at thier butt when they walk through the door...

[bar1ed]

people are acting like this is a two-for-one deal ! ---- the clinton ticket was rejected for that ---- i really dont care what she has too say on anything --- there is nothing that she can do for me ---- she is just a fellow citizen, with one vote. ---- bring the troops home now ---- NOT 16 months, not 100 years ---- it was a mistake driven on a lie ---- now who is going to do that ?

[dare2tryobama]

We all want that but as Senator Obama has said time and time again, we have to be CAREFUL getting out just as CARELESS as we got in. So he wants to bring them home but it has to be a strategic plan in place to do just that and try and have as few casualties as possible. Now that things have gotten worse on the ground it's going to be harder but I believe he can do it and do it well.

Individuals have come down on him saying he is soft. He is not soft he is smart and a thinker which we haven't had those qualities in a President in a very long time and now American's don't know how to respond to a possible President that will be open with us. We have been conditioned to just deal with whatever we are given and time is up for that. So rest assured the war has not been forgotten by Senator Obama.

[FirstShirt]

You can't just pack your Gucci and catch a cab. And, when you elect Barack you will get Michelle. Nice lady and opinionated so get ready for it.

[thefallen]

The coward Obama sends his wife out to do the dirty work. Typical.

[Lady Lynn de Rthschild]

Your right.

Michelle should and probably would just look after the kids, do a few good will pet projects and be an unobtrusive, but classy, show piece. Who care, really?

Cindy minding John, and Todd helping Sarah, like he did in Alaska...why that's a real deal.

Being president is hard. It's better to have 4 people doing the job. They can hire babysitters.

[dare2tryobama]

People are going to vote for thier candidate for many different reasons. I don't think Michelle was attacking Palin or anything like that. The media gets on my nerves trying to make everything that comes out of the Obama camp an issue, tryin to make people suspicious and feed into the fear and concerns that some still have.

I wish they (media, right wing, conservatives, McCain Camp) would leave them alone and stop making a federal case out of something she or Senator Obama says. It's disgraceful especially when the media and others don't do the same with McCain and question him about it and make him continue to explain himself as they have done and continue to do with Senator Obama.

[enufsaid]

Are you kidding me now? What channels do you watch? It must not be MSNBC or NMC or CNN because they bow down to the Obama camp every chance they get. My God, Olberman and Mathews were so over the top as supposed journalists that NBC actually took them off the front line. The media so wants to stomp on Sarah Palin that they have sent out the masses to Alaska to see what good dirt they can dig up. Then out of nowhere, mysteriously Sarah Palin has her personal e-mail broadcast all over...Gee, wonder what son of a democratic politician hacked into that one...They have people posting stuff on the internet in the hopes that it sticks.
What the heck has them so scared? If she truly is so stupid and has absolutly no knowledge of foreign polictics then why not let her crash and burn on her own? She shouldn't need anyone else's help. That is unless, of course, you are afraid she might actually do better than expected....

[FirstShirt]

See? Even women can be sexist.

[AlphaMutt]

Her sentiment is correct but the application is unadvisable. It just creates empathy for Palin.
Stay away from the drive-by cheap shots. Stick to the issues. That's all that's needed.
The other crap just comes off as petty and sniping. You can't claim the high ground with low blows.

[nevadagirl]

Sticking to the issues and taking the high road sure got Democrats elected the last two times. Good strategy.

[Matt7]

I know the concept of integrity and accountability my be foreign to rethugs? But it does win out in the long run. Let's see if the country is really ready for change or not.

[hapiguy]

Michelle, right or wrong-your statement/talk is just the Fodder the Pubs/Media is waiting for,,,look i am a 71 year old white DEM, behind Barak all the way,,,he would make a great Pres,,,replacing our currentAWOL excuse for one,,,but please,,you are highly educated,,think before you speak,,everything is on the line,,,
everything..thank you

[starfire426]

I'm certain Michelle is quite aware of that at this point in this long drawn out election cycle and you're correct...she is a very highly educated and intelligent woman. However...I, as an African American woman, am getting pretty sick and tired of people (mainly the MSM, but lots of others, also) attempting to distort what she says. And I'm even more sick and tired of the deference that people think both Senator and Mrs. Obama owe the likes of Mc (every one knows he's a former POW) and Sarah (cause she's a white woman?).

I've been watching this entire process play out and it appears that, in some people's minds, the Obamas are suppose to be playing some type of subservient role in order to make others appear superior. The Obamas are on anequal footing with their opponents and it's high time that people respect that as fact!!!!

[FirstShirt]

We know there is no distortion of McCain and Palins comments, right? Can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. They picked the life, republicans didn't pick it for them.

[nevadagirl]

Thank you Starfire. I watched three women's groups endorse Obama on C-Span and I saw no coverage of the event on MSM even though the groups include millions of women. The coverage of the Obamas has been so sparse because they are just an ordinary American family with no sordid dramas. Lots to cover with McCain and his spoiled wife, but they are given a pass, I believe, because of their race. (I am white.)

[wadda]

Hear, hear.

[enufsaid]

Both sides love to distort the other..That unfortunetly is the name of the game. You must not be so thin skinned, at least not if you want to involve yourself in politics.
However, Michelle Obama is a highly educated woman and so it is with the utmost of respect that I suggest that she knows exactly what she is saying. No one is taking it the wrong way by any means. She is a Harvard grad who chooses her words carefully.
Just how does one distort, "This is the first time in my life that I have truly been proud of my country".For you to suggest that she is too stupid to know what she is saying is an insult to her Harvard Education.
By no means do the Obama's owe any debt of gradtitude to McCain or any other soldier stuck in a POW camp for 5 years. Furthermore, they absolutley do not have to respect Sarah Palin because as you say she is a "white woman".
Until I read your post I never considered the Obama's as playing any sort of subservient role is this whole process. However, if they think as you do than I am worried for the direction that this country will go because it sounds alot like a subtle undertone of prejudice, racism and distain for the "white men and women" who came before.

[FirstShirt]

Good point. Her comment was overshadowed by Biden's comment that you should show your patriotism by being willing to pay the taxes that will come under his and Obama's administration. Sure theres more to it. Who cares? Taxes are the third rail.

[goldnchyl]

Good point. You're paying out of the a$$ for everything, your country is heading towards a financial depression, while those responsible have been bailed out on your ever declining dime, not to mention the billions, probably trillions, that have been sucked up by military contractor price gauging, overcharging for shoddy services, cronyism at its worst. The mess created by this current, republican administration, as bad as it looks now, has yet to be seen for all its damage to our country, IMHO. And your point about patriotism, considering your apparent support for a candidate who clearly has put his desire to win an election ahead of any principle he may have once held, is laughable.

[enufsaid]

Besides saying present 144 times in the senate instead of taking a stand on an issue, give me 5 reasons why you think Obama would make a good President. Don't count the millions of dollars in empty promises of healthcare, tax cuts etc..because that can't happen since we now have to bail out the banks and market.

[BadmotherinAK]

People should watch the whole video. She is spot on.

[UplandBob]

BadmotherinAK, you are just the type of democrat the media loves. I can only wish that Obama would say his wife was "spot on" when she referred to Palin as "cute." The comment was demeaning, sexist, and probably racist.

[macken631]

"Morning Joe" is making a big stink about these comments by Michelle Obama. With all the mess we are in after eight years of voting in "a guy we would like to have a beer with," it is only fair to vote for the issues. However, mainstream media would rather distract from this message and make their own news.

[rhettab]

Some of these comments are disgusting. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that there is still such bigotry and ignorance out there....but I would think most people would want to move into the 21st Century. I'll bet some of these mean and extremely shallow people are "Christians" ... and I'm sure Jesus Christ would agree with their hatred, racism, and low self-esteem. These people just reinforce the perception that Repubicans are evil, wicked, mean, bad and nasty - so keep it up and we'll see Obama/Biden win this in a landslide so thanks for showing your pathetic ignorance.

[nevadagirl]

I went to the Palin rally in Nevada (to protest) and Republicans were selling and wearing very racist T-shirts and carrying pro-life signs and flipping us the bird in front of their kids. Great family values.

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

Michelle Obama: Favorability rating
CNN/OPINION RESEARCH CORP. POLL
50% Favorable
32% Unfavorable

Palin is now below 50%.

[FirstShirt]

Michelle does better when she doesn't talk.

[kamenwati]

Sorta like you when you don't write.

[bluprojekt]

Now you made a sexist remark - too bad for you that your comments amount to the crumbs the other trolls try to feed on

"Now Go Away or I Will Taunt You a Second Time."

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

Michelle is right you should vote for you self interests and on the issues.

[w8aminute]

Amen!

[cleffnote]

No you shouldn't, you should vote on the country's best interest and the issues.

[Lady Lynn de Rthschild]

She was referring to me. Vote in *my* self interest. That is the issue.

It's one in the same. Learn that.

[Scarlet57]

Love Michelle and glad to hear from her again!