Leading Lady
August 23, 2016 1:29 PM   Subscribe

"“A lot of our audiences are kids and teens, and they want to be in on the joke. And they’ll listen again. We’re just a little looser with this stuff than most traditional first ladies.”" -- Michelle Obama, interviewed by Variety.
posted by roomthreeseventeen (15 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'm not a US citizen, so it's not for me to say, but daaaaaamn I hope she runs for Prez next election...
posted by DreamerFi at 2:08 PM on August 23, 2016


Me too: with many other foreigners, I can't not admire her; what a super-cool, super-smart woman. When I think of America, I'll think of this great, fun and amazingly impressive woman, one of so many impressive, talented and wickedly intelligent women whose exploits and triumphs I can learn about and learn from (so it seems to me, from far away).
posted by the quidnunc kid at 2:28 PM on August 23, 2016 [1 favorite]


She is the very personification of a good solid human being all the way. I'm truly going to miss having a first family I am so completely proud of.
posted by nevercalm at 2:39 PM on August 23, 2016 [15 favorites]


I am very curious what the Obamas will do after their winter vacation is over.
posted by srboisvert at 2:55 PM on August 23, 2016


I hope she runs for Prez next election

...personally I hope she runs in 2024
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:31 PM on August 23, 2016 [5 favorites]


Given Mrs. Obama's well-documented reluctance when it comes to politics, I do not foresee her running for any elected office. While she was known as "The Closer" during her husband's campaigns and has an obvious talent for outreach and messaging, I'd like her to do her once the White House is in the rearview mirror. If that means running for office, great. But if it means teaching law or joining a firm or starting a foundation, I'm good with that, too. She's a national treasure.
posted by xyzzy at 3:36 PM on August 23, 2016 [3 favorites]


OMG - I know I shouldn't have, but I clicked on the comments and . . .
Never mind.
posted by nostrada at 3:46 PM on August 23, 2016


wouldn't it be better to have a wider variety of presidents, rather than repeatedly picking from a few "royal families"?

i mean, obvs, that's true when it's republicans because they're Just Bad (TM), but maybe that carries across to democrats too?
posted by andrewcooke at 4:42 PM on August 23, 2016 [2 favorites]


I am going to miss her. Best first lady ever.
posted by photoslob at 5:45 PM on August 23, 2016


Michelle Obama has been an extraordinary advocate for public health and her significant messages and modes are observed and studied world wide- even at my university in Australia. I hope that is what we see is important about her and rejoice in her ability to largely escape the ubiquitous sexist objectification so many women have faced in high profile roles. She's a wonderful role model for women and for public health policy makers.

Thanks Michelle O'Bama for giving us you. You've been a global force for the better.
posted by taff at 6:18 PM on August 23, 2016 [2 favorites]


I just want to remind everyone of when she said "obie-gynie" for "ob/gyn" which is a SUPER CHICAGO THING TO SAY and everyone in Chicago was like "right on" and the national press completely freaked out about whether this was weird.

One of the things I love about her -- which is actually one of the things I really like about Hillary too, who is from the Chicago suburbs -- is that she's SUCH A CHICAGO MOM. Both of them remind me so much of my own mother, who would hate that comparison because she would like all Illinois Democrats to die in a fire, but they talk like her, they have the same accent, they laugh at the same jokes, they make the same snarky comments, they are strict with their kids about the same sorts of things. Sometimes I am not totally sure how some of their dryer humor plays in the national press when I stop to think about it, but both Obama and Clinton are very "readable" and relateable to other Midwestern women, especially when they're being dry and sarcastic.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:27 PM on August 23, 2016 [10 favorites]


andrewcooke: i mean, obvs, that's true when it's republicans because they're Just Bad (TM)

Just because people can't be bothered to recite their entire rationales from memory for judging particular Republicans to be really bad, every time that judgment comes up, doesn't mean they're really based on such a crude strawman. Sheesh.
posted by traveler_ at 6:37 PM on August 23, 2016


wouldn't it be better to have a wider variety of presidents, rather than repeatedly picking from a few "royal families"?

I think it's better just to have the best possible person as President regardless of what family they come from. Though the training of seeing a Presidency up close is hard to improve upon.

Michelle made no secret of her reservations about supporting this high-level, high-demand part of Barack's professional life well before 2008. I don't think she aspires to the Presidency, and it seems clear she has some other strong ideas about things to do with her time and considerable talents.
posted by Miko at 7:39 PM on August 23, 2016 [1 favorite]


wouldn't it be better to have a wider variety of presidents, rather than repeatedly picking from a few "royal families"?

i mean, obvs, that's true when it's republicans because they're Just Bad (TM), but maybe that carries across to democrats too?


As someone who owns and regularly wears a "Michelle Obama 2016" t-shirt can I suggest that you are being ridiculous?

Nobody is realistically suggesting that Michelle Obama run for president. People are expressing their support of the president and also expressing their support of Michelle Obama herself for what she does and who she is and how she has acted in her position as the First Lady.

John Adams and John Quincy Adams were related. Theodore Roosevelt and FDR were related. George Bush and George W Bush were obviously related. Barack Obama is apparently related to both George Bush and Dick Cheney.

Before the somewhat sensible political world collapsed last year Jeb! seemed like a serious contender for the Republican nomination. That would be 3 President Bushes. People started talking about presidential dynasties and they folded the fact that Hillary was on the path for a democratic nomination into that narrative.

The US is not "repeatedly picking from a few 'royal families'"
posted by ActingTheGoat at 12:19 AM on August 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


Mod note: Let's drop this derail, please.
posted by taz (staff) at 12:45 AM on August 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


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