Future First Lady: Cindy or Michelle?

Cindy McCain or Michelle Obama?

In such an unprecedented election year, where more attention and focus is paid to presidential surrogates than ever before, it begs the question: Who will our first lady be? And perhaps more importantly, what kind of first lady will she be?

The answer may lie in each woman's past and their behavior on the campaign trail.

Michelle Obama would enter the White House as the mother of two young children. Born and raised in the gritty South Side of Chicago, Obama grew up in a working class household. She graduated from Princeton majoring in sociology and earned a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School. Before devoting more time to her husband on the campaign trail, she served as vice president for community and external affairs at a Chicago hospital.

As a mother, one of Obama's priorities in the White House will be ensuring her children have a smooth transition into a new environment. On the campaign trail, she has reached out to voters by using her own experiences as a mother and African American woman. But her strong views about taboo topics like race have come under incredible scrutiny.

Her thesis on "Princeton-educated Blacks and the Black Community" was temporarily unavailable for months, prompting speculation in the blogosphere about its contents. In the thesis, Obama discusses feeling like a visitor on her own campus, being made aware of her "blackness," and challenges within the education system. For the past few weeks, a rumor has persisted that there is a tape where one can hear Obama using the term, "whitey," but it has yet to pop up and her husband has shot down persistent rumors of its existence. Her biggest controversy involves remarks she made that caused some to question her patriotism. The conjecture about her views on race and her nationalism will only continue to grow in volume as November nears, and may be exploited by the GOP.

In anticipation of the attacks she may receive during the campaign, Obama's aides have said that they may bring in operatives from previous Democratic campaigns to work with her, helping her weather the controversies. Although some may try to exploit her views, Obama is a close adviser to her husband and also adds considerably to his campaign. She has been called "The Closer" because of her aptitude in securing votes for her husband and the many hats she wears appeals to a wide variety of voters.

"She's definitely been a successful career woman, you would assume she would want to carve out more of a role like Hillary Clinton [as first lady]," says Richard Fox, a professor of political science at Loyola Marymount University, adding that Obama's parental duties will also influence her political agenda.

Like Obama, Cindy McCain has also discussed having to learn how to balance family and work life. McCain was initially reluctant to watch her husband enter another presidential election, but has emerged as one of his campaign's bright spots. Similar to Michelle Obama, McCain is seen as an asset to her husband. She brings youth and glamor to her husband's campaign, two things he lacks. She has advised him on making personnel and strategy changes, including getting his campaign back on track after it had run out of money. She has taken on a more direct behind-the-scenes role than in the 2000 presidential election, and became a better campaigner in the process.

A mother of four, McCain is an advocate for children's health and has contributed and served on the boards of various charity organizations including Operation Smile, which provides reconstructive facial surgery to children, and CARE, USA, an organization that fights global poverty. She grew up in an affluent household, is chairman of her family business, Hensley & Company, and received a Bachelor's and Master's degree from the University of Southern California in Special Education. Her charitable endeavors would seem to paint a picture of the issues that will be important to her as First Lady.

But she too has withstood controversy. McCain has survived an addiction to painkillers and deflected criticism about declining to release her income tax returns by releasing the first two pages of her 2006 return. When it comes to being in the White House, she has also stated that she would not sit in on Cabinet meetings.

"Based on her background and how she has lived, you would have to assume that Cindy McCain, would be perhaps a more traditional first lady," says Fox. "Yet she seems by other accounts quite actively involved in the campaign."

Both women have already made the media rounds, helping their husbands on the campaign trail, as well as introducing themselves to the masses. A shoeless McCain appears in the June issue of Vogue, co-hosted The View last April, and chatted with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show. Obama also appeared in an issue of Vogue, and will also co-host The View later this month. But campaigning to get into the White House, where candidates and their families are under microscopic scrutiny, is very different than actually living the role.

"If you're someone going out on the campaign trail, you're advocating for your candidate, in these cases, for your husband. It's much easier to get into trouble because you're at all kinds of events," says Ruth Mandel, director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. "When you're in the White House, there is a first lady role."

History has shown us that the role of first lady is something that is reflective of society at the time, a Rorschach inkblot test of norms and mores. In the 50s, when Dwight D. Eisenhower served as president, his wife, Mamie, famously said: "Ike runs the country, and I turn the pork chops." In the 70s, Betty Ford spoke with a candor and openness that is reflective of the changing times, in an era that legalized abortion, produced the no-fault divorce, and increased domestic violence awareness. More recently, first ladies have evolved into visible partners, who make appearances, hit the campaign trail and are under the same scrutiny and microscope as their partners.

Michelle Obama has learned it the hard way. Last month, the Tennessee GOP made a Web video using Obama's comment, "For the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country." The video prompted a response from Obama's husband, who told the GOP to lay off his wife. Even Cindy McCain stepped in, commenting that she was very proud of her country. The controversy only underscores the fact that in this day and age, spouses, especially those who have the chance to live in the White House, are not off-limits.

Obama has said in several interviews that she has had to learn how to reign in on her sarcasm, which does not come across well in the media, as well as develop a more positive tone to her speeches. Her strong viewpoint is something that Republicans may try to exploit during the course of the campaign. Ironically, Obama's lesson in public diplomacy is reminiscent of the battle Hillary Clinton faced after stating that she wasn't the type to stay at home and bake cookies, or stand by her man like Tammy Wynette.

On the other hand, aside from a gaffe that involved her passing off Food Network recipes as her own and the debate surrounding her income tax returns, McCain has largely avoided controversy this election. She has proved to be more of a traditional spouse, lending support to her husband, and not campaigning as much on her own as Michelle Obama.

Whichever woman lands in the White House, both will have a long legacy to live up to.

"It's a job that every woman creates," says Allyson Lowe, director of the Pennsylvania Center for Women, Politics, and Public Policy at Chatham University. "Every first lady has an opportunity to create the role in his or her image but is keenly aware of the historical legacy that precedes them."

That legacy brings with it a long line of women who have shaped the idea of what it means to be first lady. Eleanor Roosevelt was outspoken and politically active during her time in the White House, becoming the first presidential spouse to hold weekly press conferences. Woodrow Wilson's wife, Edith, helped run the White House when a stroke left him paralyzed. Many Americans have an enduring image of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis as a pillar of grace and style.

More modern first ladies have chosen signature social causes to define their time in the White House. Nancy Reagan had the "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign. Lady Bird Johnson chose beautification, Barbara Bush focused on literacy. Laura Bush doesn't have as clear of a signature campaign as other first ladies, but has championed education and remained low-key and elegant throughout her time in the White House, garnering high favorability ratings in the process.

Perhaps more than any other first lady in history, though, Clinton has reshaped and redefined the role. She burst into the White House with an impressive professional career behind her, the first presidential spouse to hold a postgraduate degree. Clinton set up office in the West Wing, helped to spearhead public policy, and ran for Senate after her time in the White House. However, Clinton's involvement in her husband's presidency also came with its fair share of controversy.

"Clearly [Clinton's] shown you can be an ambitious person and be first lady, but she's still a polarizing figure," says Fox. "When we have a first lady who's outspoken, has her own career goals, it makes us think of where we are in terms of traditional gender roles."

Yet whether McCain or Obama chooses to be more politically active or maintain a more traditional role, there is always room for criticism.

"When first ladies are very politically active, they've taken heat in the public for being politically active. When first ladies carry a more traditional role, they are then criticized for not being active," says Lowe. "We seem to have a fluctuating definition of what an active first lady is, whether that's charitable or political, and that seems to vary with the situation in which the country finds itself."

In a presidential primary season that saw Clinton breaking barriers as a woman running for the highest office in the nation, Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama are in a unique position to create a new definition of what it is to be first lady.

"In some ways, they can be whatever kind of first lady we want to let them be," says Lowe.

Comments

[DMSmith]

You lie. Cindy McCain can NEVER be the kind of first lady that i and many of us want her to be.

Your last line negates anything else you have said. Idiocy is not a good way to end such an article.

[tel8034]

Why white wash the fact that Cindy STOLE painkillers from her own charity to feed her drug addiction by saying "She Survived Addiction".

She STOLE the drugs, got caught and did not even face charges....... THE ONLY THING SHE SURVIVED WAS PRISON.

If "AVERAGE JANE" had done that (or if Michelle Obama had done that), I'm sure that the words SURVIVED ADDICTION would NOT have been used, and the MSM would have had a field day and would have run the story 24/7 (like Rev Wright and Bittergate)........ Michelle would have been labelled as a "DRUG ADDICT", or as a "STILL RECOVERING DRUG ADDICT", and Barack may not have even made it this far .

Also Daryl (the author) seems to have had enough ink to ensure that the subject of Michelle's thesis was included in this article, and found enough ink to mention a PHANTOM audio tape which claims that Michelle used a racist word ........ THERE IS NO SUCH TAPE SO WHY BRING IT UP? WAS IT MENTIONED JUST TO CREATE A SUBLIMINAL EFFECT?

But Daryl Paranda seems to have run out of ink after he writes about Michelle, and therefore omitted Cindy's role in the breakup of McCain's 1st marriage (she was the OTHER WOMAN), and never got around to Cindy's PLAGARIZED recipes.

The article therefore in my opinion, was biased .

[XME]

Apparently if you're white and rich, you're "addicted to painkillers" and deserving of understanding and help...If you're poor and black, you're just a druggie who deserves nothing but disdain.

[lvdragonlady]

stepford wife or outspoken wife?
drug user/thief or unproud american wife?
magazine posing or model mom?
plastic lady or untouched beauty?

Lots of options.