The "New" Michelle Obama

Our girl kicked it on The View the other morning, folks. She spoke so beautifully and looked so stylish that the dress she wore is flying out of the stores. It's bizarre how she had to be re-imaged and reintroduced and how the Obama campaign has started a website to fight the smears, but anyone who hears her in her own words could not help but be impressed. Though I'm sure her statements are being parsed for cannon fodder that the attack machine can continue to lob at the Obama campaign, I'm also confident that any reasonably open-minded person would see nothing to be frightened of.



I have this theory abut first ladies. We like every other person who is in that role. Getting a new one is like having to buy a new car when you aren't ready to get rid of the one you've got if it's good and reliable. On the other hand if you don't like your car, you're more than happy to get rid of it in favor of a new model. (Maybe that's why people are so brand loyal when it comes to cars. Hmmm...)

It's been about 40 years since we've had two consecutive first ladies that the country has actually taken to: Jacqueline Kennedy followed by Ladybird Johnson, and consider the circumstances that precipitated that transition. I'm sure the country was predisposed to support the Johnsons as the new first family. Then after Mrs. Johnson we had Pat Nixon (disliked), Rosalyn Carter (liked), Nancy Reagan (hated, but now beloved since her husband's death and stunningly impressive funeral), Barbara Bush (liked), Hillary Clinton (despised), Laura Bush (beloved). Hopefully because the Obamas are so Kennedy-esque, Michelle Obama as first lady could harken back to the sixties as the Obamas have on so many other levels, with their young and attractive family, and break this cycle. We shall see!