THE PLANK JUNE 19, 2008
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I didn't catch Michelle Obama's turn as guest-host on ABC's "The View" yesterday, but I gather from the reviews she was a big hit. She deftly answered questions about her husband's policy positions, like most-favored breakfast food. (Bacon.) She revealed her own feelings on other raging debates, like whether to wear pantyhose. (A polite but firm no: "I'm 5'11'' so I'm tall, nothing fits...Put 'em on, rip 'em..it's inconvenient.") And, most important, she met and exceeded expectations from the fashion pundits. (She wore a black-and-white sleveless dress from what is, according to Slate, "a middlebrow outlet for middle-aged ladies, a line exactly as fancy as the Gap.")
All of this was part of the Obama campaign's carefully orchestrated effort to re-introduce Michelle, who's become a source of controversy for things she has said (famously, declaring that "for the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country") and things she has not said (i.e., supposedly using the term "whitey" in a speech). And, on "The View," Michelle apparently did exactly what she needed to do. She side-stepped controversies, like whether her husband should pick Hillary Clinton as a running mate: "the one thing
that a nominee earns is a right to pick the vice president that they
think will best reflect their vision for the country. And I'm just glad
I will have nothing to do with it." Michelle even praised Laura Bush, citing her as a role model for the First Lady. "That's what I like about Laura Bush, her calm, rational approach to
these issues. I am taking some cues. There's a reason why people like
her, because she doesn't sort of fuel the fire."
You can count me as skeptical that Michelle Obama really means it. Reading between the lines of various profiles, it's apparent that she has some strong opinions--and no small amount of influence on her husband. And as a Princeton- and Harvard-trained lawyer with experience in one of Washington's largest and most influential firms, it's a good bet she's pretty smart, too. It seems unthinkable to me that, as First Lady, she'd fade into the background. She wouldn't be leading a task force on universal health care, but, just as surely, she wouldn't keep her thoughts to herself--at least within the White House--on major decisions about policy and management.
And, as far as I'm concerned, that's great. Barack Obama's track record as a campaigner and office-holder reflects his leadership style and values--and that includes, I would imagine, having used his wife as a sounding board and trusted counsel. It's a track good record--after all, that's why he's the nominee and, depending on whose predictions you believe, a narrow favorite to win the eleciton in November. Why should things change afterwards?
Of course, not everybody might agree. Most of the commentary on (and controversy over) Michelle Obama has focussed on her race and how, if at all, she has interfered with his message of racial reconciliation. But I'm equally struck by the message about gender she sends and how that might play out on generational lines.
From afar, the contours of the Obama marriage look a lot like the contours of my marriage and that of many peers. Both Barack and Michelle have jobs, so they share responsibility for raising the kids. (Or at least that's how things were before the campaign, which I'm sure has changed things.) It's also very clear they treat each other as full intellectual equals. Not only has she generally made more money than he has. She's also, according to Barack, the smarter half of the couple. (That's another common element with my marriage.)
There's a lot of diversity in the gender roles you find in my generation. I have lots of friends in more traditional marriages, where the wife stays home to raise children. (And, just to be crystal clear, a woman who stays home to raise kids can certainly be an equal, and not just intellectually.) Still, I'm guessing that young people recognize the marraige roles that the Obamas have decided to adopt as pretty normal, at least relative to older voters, many of whom might see such arrangements as foreign or, in some cases, even a little threatening. It wouldn't surprise me if this is one reason older voters haven't embraced Obama as enthusiastically as younger voters.
If so, the campaign to soften Michelle's image makes more sense. And while I wish Michelle didn't have to pretend to be something she's not--assuming I'm actually right about all of this--I'm comforted by the fact that an Obama First Family, should it come to pass, would probably accelerate the changes in conceptions about gender that are already taking place.
--Jonathan Cohn
13 comments
Cohn - you do your wife a grave disservice by comparing Michelle Obama to her. All due respect to Obama's wife, but "VP of Community Relations" eg "Spouse of Local Politician" doesn't begin to compare with a math PhD from MIT whose research focuses on "developing models and algorithms for solving large-scale transportation and logistics problems" such as
-- Robust airline planning (in conjunction with Peter Belobaba of MIT)
-- Sequencing and scheduling of automotive stamping facilities (in collaboration with Ford Motor Co.)
-- Mechanisms for conducting combinatorial VCG auctions without explicit enumeration of all bids (in collaboration with Damian Beil and Amitabh Sinha of the Ross School of Business)
-- Scheduling of medical residents (in collaboration with Joseph Norman of the University of Michigan Medical School)
-- Parallel optimization techniques in high-performance computing
Would that the role models offered to our children featured the likes of Amy Cohn and other engineering and math PhDs instead of "community relations" specialists battening on their proximity to elected officeholders.
- teplukhin2you
June 19, 2008 at 10:29am
I liked that the first thing she did was make everyone fist-bump her. This is The View, remember.
- psantillana
June 19, 2008 at 11:54am
So Obama likes bacon. You'd think that would shut down the closet-Muslim stuff. Then again, maybe not helpful with observant Jews.
- cspencef
June 19, 2008 at 1:53pm
Before we assume that Michelle has a whole set of policy positions, we should note that she worked for the Sidley and Austin law firm in Chicago, not Washington, doing corporate law. She, probably to her benefit, doesn't have the Washington law firm aka lobbyist experience.
- jjridge
June 19, 2008 at 2:58pm
...Would that the role models offered to our children featured the likes of Amy Cohn and other engineering and math PhDs *instead of*"community relations" specialists battening on their proximity to elected officeholders....
Buddy it's a big wide world and everything is possible. No either /ors needed, thank you.
- basman
June 19, 2008 at 3:25pm
Agreed with Tep, nice vita Amy.
- jet
June 19, 2008 at 4:35pm
Tep,
Show me where Cohn was comparing his wife and Obama's? He was comparing their marriages, not their wives.
In any event, what does Cohn's wife's background have to do with being the wife of the President of the United States?
And, by extension, how does the technical expertise that Cohn's wife obviously displays give her any kind of a one-up against anyone, other than her peers? I've worked with uber-intelligent, frequently published thought leader/Ph.D.s in multiple fields for decades, and plenty of them are unintelligible or arrogant or socially clueless or greedy or lazy or bigoted or plenty of other characteristics I wouldn't want in somebody living on the same block, let alone in the White House.
You're really stretching here, trying to trash Obama every chance you get. Give it a rest.
- williamyard
June 19, 2008 at 5:05pm
"She's also, according to Barack, the smarter half of the couple. (That's another common element with my marriage.)"
williamyard, you're wrong and tep is right. The comparison is there - the two marriages are alike in that the woman is more accomplished than the man. This is true for Cohn and it is to his credit that he acknowledges it.
How on earth is it true for Obama? Barack Obama is as educated as his wife and has been very successful as a politician and somewhat as a scholar. After all, he was on the law faculty at the University of Chicago. Faculty, not student. Huge difference. I dislike him, but one cannot say he is not accomplished.
By comparison, Michelle Obama has a cushy and well-paid job, a really bizarre sinecure. And anyway, how does she get 300,000 a year for doing that fluff job while the average rate for her position in Chicago is 64,000? I work at a large university and I know such administrators, including community liaison ones. None of them come have even close to a faculty.
- sleepyavl
June 20, 2008 at 12:15am
cspencef "Then again, maybe not helpful with observant Jews."
Observant Jews believe the rules apply to Jews, not to non-Jews. In other words, they do not care that a non-Jew eats bacon.
- sleepyavl
June 20, 2008 at 12:18am
Sleepy - ah yes, the unbearable self-importance, stupendous pettiness and petty jealousy of academics, so predictable,
What exactly is it that you do that's so elevated again? I thought you said you were delving in to deep science and wouldn't be around for awhile - a grant to cure cancer as I recall.
You have no idea what you are talking about, unless you have actually done Michelle Obama's job. I have no doubt that you would find community liason to a large hospital to be meaningless. She is getting the going rate, your research on the salary for this job (*get a life) is wrong of course and both you and Tep are being unbelievably petty. You both say nothing about Michelle Obama and everything about yourselves. Again: both of you - get a life.
This stopped being about Obama's lack of experience or position on biofuels or Israel long ago and became a petty, high school level grudge party. So tired.
- Wandreycer1
June 20, 2008 at 5:39am
I find it interesting that she said Obama said to her to behave LOL. I love Michelle the way she is she is strong and opinonated but that doesnt mean that that she is this caricature that the right is presenting. All strong wome are a problem for conservatives they prefer them walkign around acting demure and "Ladylike" or staying at home baking cookies. Michelle may bake cookies but thats certainly not the end all and be all of who she is. She has personality which is a critieria I would think that would be required in a first lady. Who wants a boring first lady. Granted you dont want a vagabond but you dont want a stepford wife either. I think she is an effective balance between the two.
I was watcing Verdict and apparently conservatives are upset because she said Americans are mean I find it laughable that Right wing talk show host would make an issue of this since THEY ARE the epitome of MEAN and nasty you would think they would be the ones to be least offended but Oh well.
Carol
- harriscrl3
June 20, 2008 at 10:15am
Oh, Harris, you mean like Condi Rice and Margaret Thatcher? Yep, both a real problem for this conservative. Put a sock in it.
I don't have anything against Michelle Obama. But when her husband inserts a $1 million dollar earmark to the hospital where she is employed, that may be a problem for some people.
- butchie b
June 20, 2008 at 2:30pm
WandreyCer1, you're not in a position to give advice to anyone. "Get a life!" That shows how nonsensical you are. You're incapable of using anything but cliches. Eh, too much telly for your brain. Even the fact you attributed me a grant to cure cancer shows how cliche you are. I never said I work on cancer -I don't- and I certainly don't need permission from you for when to write and when not.
Your posts, though entertaining are full of bile, unhinged and always fact-free. Most of the time you launch into rants about Team Menopause, winged monkeys, Hillary and the brown shirts, how some people need to be destroyed - and so on. On the bright side, with your act you'd make good money on the subway.
- sleepyavl
June 20, 2008 at 9:13pm