Making Michelle Who She Isn't -- Risky Obama Campaign Move
Many people, especially in politics, think the bad things that happened to the other guy (gal) aren't going to happen to them. "That was different," they reason. "That was then and this is now."
Well, politics is, as Michelle Obama has observed, "a game and a sport." And while there are new moves all the time, some tried and true ones are evident in every political campaign. One of those is about to happen to Michelle Obama unless she heeds her own counsel.
I've written about "slippery criteria" applied to women and minorities. Since they're often relatively new to high levels of organizations and less privy in most cases to how others got there, much of what goes on behind the scenes to block them is not accessible. Usually they're sent off on some wild goose chase seeking one additional accolade, one more element of proof that they're the best person for the job or promotion. And just when they achieve that goal, the game is changed -- new criteria emerge.
In an interview, Michelle Obama noted this about her husband's campaign. "The pundits said there was no way Barack could raise the money and that was the test -- raising the money -- until Barack raised the money and then that wasn't important." She described how they said "he couldn't build the political organization to outmatch opponents who'd been building theirs for years. He did and then that wasn't an issue."
Hillary Clinton tried to get ahead of constantly changing criteria. It cost her. Now Anderson Cooper (June 17) tells us that Michelle Obama is going to be remodeled. Based on what? According to whom? Not again!
I'm all for tweaking and even an occasional dramatic change in order to get where you want to go. We should all be constantly learning. But being someone other than who you are to please, especially media commentators, only displeases you. Besides, we are who we are, and our gestures and micro-expressions belie our lies. When we act as if we're someone other than who we are, we are on shaky ground and it's noticeable. It's also impossible to lead for long from such a precarious perch.
When women or men start reinventing themselves based on the latest "criteria" -- it's risky. Change is what Obama's campaign is largely about. But changing his wife shouldn't be -- not beyond recognition or even close to that. She has much to offer and has said she's looking forward to changing the lives of women for the better -- the women who don't have the back-ups she and Barack have, who work long hours for too little money and are just too tired to think. That will, in turn, change the lives of thousands of children at risk who are shamefully overlooked in our society.
I don't get the sense that Michelle Obama will sell her soul to help her husband become president. But she'll do some tweaking, learn to think even more before she speaks, reflect upon the various interpretations of her words, and, as she has said about big decisions, "go down every dark road" before doing or saying something potentially dangerous. That's just using political wisdom. But once they start trying to make her a composite of first ladies of the past -- a woman who looks lovingly spellbound at her man - perhaps someone who does cute, adorable things (to soften her image), then change will have gone too far.
Michelle has said about politics as a game: "We have to focus on not doing that. If you want to change it, you can't become part of it." Good words to remember. Very good words to remember when they start sending her off to become one more thing, then another -- to get it right.
More about "slippery criteria" at bardscove.com
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IF, Obama is elected it will because he is running on the Democratic ticket and the MEDIA and the
DNC DECIDED LONG AGO HE WAS GOING TO BE THE NOMINEE. If he were running on anyother ticket, he would have NO CHANCE of winning. The Repukes have all but ruined our country for good. Now the Democrats will have to work 24/7 to get us out of this hole G.W. put us in, and OBAMA is not the one to do it.
This comment has no basis in reality. Clinton lost, get over it. She ran a shoddy campaign. Time to move on.
A shoddy campaign=18 million supporters. The DNC and the DNC rules committee were a great help to Obama.
WHEN Obama is elected tears of joy will stream down your face.
www.justsaynodeal.com
To Smaggie;
Either you are obniciant or a fool!! Since you have such a great handle on future events how come you are not traveling from state to state winning their Lotto's?
It amazes me to no end when I read the blogging of you self appointed prognosticators. Just too full of yoursels or, as I mentioned before, youy are fooooooooooooooooools! (only fooling yourself, though)
Obama WILL be president, not because of some silly guesswork but Devine Intervention.
Hoping and wishing of some warped minds will NOT stop him.
"Resistance IS futile". The more you resist, the more it becomes apparent.
Srewolf
and what qualifies u
KATHLEEN! Excellent blog and thank you for reiterating my position too, " learn to think even more before she speaks, reflect upon the various interpretations of her words, and, as she has said about big decisions, "go down every dark road" before doing or saying something potentially dangerous. That's just using political wisdom."
Also, Michelle needs to let her compassionate side show through this fight for presidency, and opt for professional stylists on all dimensions. Just like Hillary had to do.
Excellent blog?
If this entire article is based on what Anderson Cooper said then there's really not much point in reading it. As soon as I got to the part where he's the authority on what's going on with Michelle, I dropped out. Michelle is doing just fine. She's smart, tough and beautiful. I'm sure she is aware that every little thing she does is going to be analyzed, criticized and smeared. She has to be twice as good and careful and continue to focus on the prize. I don't know how they do it despite the racist smears and crap like the Obama sock puppet. The dignity it must require to rise above it all is unfathomable. Sometimes it makes me very sad to see what African Americans STILL must endure in this country.
You are right to assert that Michelle will be more careful before she speaks (and that is a good thing as we don't need a repeat of the "proud American" moment). However, I don't think that an extreme makeover is on the way because this woman plays pretty terrific just the way that she is. What we will see is more of Obama's wife back story. She will talk about the difficulties facing working women, and she will talk about the values of hard work and the importance of education that she learned at home. And she will humanize Barack's story by pointing out his commitment to his family as she did on the View today when she did a great job of explaining that Barack Obama is not a rightwinger because he stresses the importance of fathers pulling their weight but rather a guy who has seen first hand the difficulties that mothers and children face when one half of the adult team unilaterally pulls out of the child rearing compact. This woman is going to be a tremendous asset to this ticket as there is something in her biography to appeal to every segment of the public. Showing those different sides should not be construed as reinvention but rather as presenting a more complete picture of the candidate and his lifepartner.
Michelle is just naturally irritating. Get used to it.
To you perhaps. I love the woman, find her intelligent, occasionally humorous and very impressive. That's my opinion. Get used to it.
My comments were directed to Republicans, but I see there are rose colored glassy eyed types on both sides. Being black and a woman are assets, not irritants. But she will irritate Republicans just by her manner, and being smarter than McCain's wife. Get used to it, all of you. And the woman is not gorgeous and you insult her by pretending to cover up her looks by lying about them. She is a plain woman, just like Eleanor Roosevelt was plain. Were you all too ignorant of history to get the connection?
The color of black is beautiful. Not necessarily everything it colors, however. You people are also patronizing her by pretending to ignore any imperfections. Shame on you.
Why bc she's black or a woman or both?
Those are irrelevant.
Not every impression of the Obamas is based on race and sex.
There is always someone trying to explain away any negative observation of the Obamas as racism or sexism on the part of the observer. It's an obsession. Get over it.
If Candor, Truth, Authenticity and Personal Integrity are natural irritants, I will be
inimitably comfortable. If you, however, find these attributes to be foreign, I suspicion
that you will be the one who will be scratching their ass for the next eight years....
Get Use to { it }.
There is but one makeover required: The "feckless and vacuous mind-set" that march us
into this muck in the first place. Michelle represents the change we all should strive to
believe in....
Get Use to { It }.
Michelle Obama is a beautiful, intelligent, educated woman. She is very down-to-earth and loves her children and her country. Anyone who can't see that, has their own personal demons to deal with. Irritating?? I think not. At least she's not a pill-popping drug addict thief who slept around with another woman's husband. NOW, THAT'S IRRITATING!!!!!!!!
Ms. Reardon does not know who Michelle Obama really is. No one, I mean no one is every going
to make Michelle over. She is totally her own person in her own right and will not be a nice
little first lady for Obama. She is too smart and independent to follow the mere dictates of others. You may not believe in the power of scientific astrology, but her chart reveals a true leader, highly intelligent, beyond mere smart, and love for the average man and woman and child who is suffering in the world. She can be a great advisor to Obama because of her ability to understand what works and doesn't work. He will be wise to tap her wisdom and use her gifts to help him be a better president. She truly believes in nurturing and caring for others because of the pain of her own childhood. In short she
has deep symathy for others, but will never be somebody's fool. If she has a flaw, it might be considered to be doing too much for others
Sure she knows..she knows damn well that Michelle is a strong smart woman..her own person...you bettch Ms Reardon knows.
She's fanning the flames
Apparently, Michelle Obame does not know who Michelle Obama is either.
It must be quite a wonderful thing that you are so close to Michelle Obama. Are you one of her closest friends, do you know where she works, do you know what her salary was before Barack bought the Senator's job in Illinois, do you know what her salary was increased to after that election and you think she is a stay at home Mom? One thing is true, she is on the board of the Largest, non-profit hospital in America, who incIdently made millions of dollars by OVERCHARGING PEOPLE, WHO WERE NOT INSURED.Remember this, this hospital is supposed to be a NOT FOR PROFIT. The main thing to remember about this election is that we, the people of the United States care for our country first, then help all the other countries of the world, BUT WE SHOULD COME FIRST! We have helped many, many other countries, but now is the time to be helping the USA!
Smaggie, what is your point? Who did "we" as a nation help as of late? The Iraqis? Please... that's a non-starter.
And why is Michelle Obama responsible for the woes of the world? Because she is on the board of a non-perfect non-for-profit hospital? Is that a crime now? More so than being on the board of Exxon? Are we having some serious issues with double standards here? Or we just didn't find anything of relevance to smear her with?
I don't know about the hospital she works for, but I do know that she left a big law firm to work there. She jokes that her mother complains that every time she or Barack changes jobs, they make less money, not more.
$300,000 a year from that hospital in salary will buy a lot of sundresses, and check the earmarks the hospital received from Senator Obama.
Micelle Obama is absolutely gorgeous, amart, and classy. She's not going to change. She's just going to tweak her message a little so that the widest range of people can hear her.
Why is it essential to make "ordinary" those who are obviously above or extra ordinary? Michelle Obama, like her husband, is not your regular guy type of woman - she has an outstanding mind, has accomplished everything she went after even before she met her husband. I will never understand why it is that we have to lower our expectations of our leaders and their spouses so that they fit the mold of ordinary Americans. Don't we want our leaders to stand out, to be outstanding, to lead the way toward becoming the best we all can be? That's what I expect of my President, and if we can have that in his partner as well, so much the better.
As Obama has said "lay off my wife", but what he should really have said is, "she's terrific just as she is". We can learn from her, accept some of what she says but perhaps not all. I am personally affronted and insulted that she has to sink into what's "popular" by joining the common woman public persona that "The View" offers us. Why the hell is she doing that? Next, she'll have to go bowling.
Is this what we want our next First Lady to portray? That she can "dish" with the rest of them.
Come on, people! Get over it.
Rancholady
Reinventing oneself worked for Obama, why not for his wife? His entire image of his family, his record, his speeches, etc. have been rewritten for his candidacy. I think even Obama does not know who the real Obama is! He changed his parents' meeting date to 4 years after he was born in 1961, to their meeting at the Selma march, in 1965, to impress those who would be impressed with his "black experience". He told of passing a nuclear bill when he did not submit the bill for passage after receiving hundreds of thousands of $s in campaign donations from a nuclear co., probably to make people think he had accomplished something while a Senator of Illinois. He has given a # of versions of men of his family who liberated concentration camps, in WW11, all versions of which have raised questions for the veracity of same. When Obama 1st decided to make a run for President, & he probably felt it was necessary for him to change his image, he said that he "vehemently disagreed" with Rev. Wright's words, yet he stayed with the church. Suddenly, when Wright recently came out of the woodwork & started speaking with those same words, Obama denied ever having heard them before. He then, unceremoniously , booted the Rev, for 23 years his mentor & teacher of political strategies, out of his life. So much for images, loyalty, & truth. He did, however, fool some of the people. Were you one of
afed...I see the McCain campaign has paid Republican operatives going around to liberal sites to tear down Obama, and notice you're trying to roil the natives here at HuffPo. I suspect you're one of them...evem admitting you're a "fed"!
Obama is the fresh face and leader we need in the White House instead of old leatherneck...truly another four years of BushCo.
Take your paid troublemaking somewhere else...we don't need your BS here!
LOL... give it up man... please... I couldn't care less when his parents met... I mean they're both dead. I don't care about his former pastor at his former church or whether or not he heard or didn't hear those particular comments. He stated that he did not hear those particular comments but he had heard things before that he didn't agree with. Much like Catholics and their pedophile Fathers.. You know even though they molested children they stated at the church. I don't care which uncle or great uncle liberated what camp. I care about the direction of this country and who I believe is better able to lead it in that direction and it sure as hell ain't McCain.
Amen to THAT!
got a link for andersen cooper's comments? i'd like to see it for meself.
If I was Michelle I'd be a little miffed by this post. She is obviously a woman with an incredibly strong personality, who has never looked to a man to tell her how to act or how to pretend you're something other than what you are. She originally was Barack's mentor (at the law firm) - not the other way around. She knows herself too well to come off phony. Both she and her husband are mature, wise adults - unlike some of the other people who have been in the white house as of late.
I like Michelle the way she is.
LIke the writers below...I don't think anybody in this country thinks that Michelle Obama can be refashioned in any form. I think it is wise to teach her strategies to keep herself out of that truth trap. What ever she says will be dissected, warped and repeated wrongly thousands of times by some. She needs to be very cautious in that regard. However, this is one smart educated articulate lady..and she is able to think. I hope she does not box herself into a corner and come out on the attack. THAT is what she will be "refashioned" to know and think, is my guess. I am so anxious for an intelligent woman as first lady, one who is also herself and not a shadow behind someone...gosh I really like Michelle Obama.
Anderson Cooper?? Really? Are you trying to tell us that we should believe what that fellow tells us? No thanks!
No, you won't be getting a shrinking violet here. Cindy (no self-esteem) McCain she is NOT! Get used to seeing someone with class and a brain in the WH.
Kathleen Reardon, I think your blog is 'much ado about nothing'.
You need not worry! Michelle is not going to 'change', and it's not the goal of the campaign to 'change', her, she needs no 'changing'!
As usual, the media, sadly not just the MSM, has to beat a subject into sensationalism and exaggeration, until the end result is a total fabrication.
The goal, is to introduce Michelle for who she REALLY is, rather that who Fox Tabloid News and others have taken the liberty of saying she was.
Michelle's strength, determination, outspokenness and confidence, has been spinned into "angry black woman".
The campaign's job is to make sure that Michelle's strength, determination, outspokenness and confidence, are taken as just that!
If one word less here, and one less adjective there is what it takes, that's what she'll do, but that's hardly a makeover!
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