A Tribute to Michelle Obama

I love Michelle Obama. Not in a romantic way. Not in a political way. In an inspirational way. I saw her speak in North Carolina in mid-April, a few weeks before the primary. She was the first Obama I had ever seen in person. Tall, confident, strong woman. When she walked on stage she just exuded this air of power and strength, and then she started talking.

What an amazing speech. She spoke to a crowd of 6,000 for over an hour. No notes. No stumbles. Just words, beautiful words telling a story about her and Barack and their struggle to reach for the American dream. How that bar always seemed to keep moving. Get a high school education. Get a college education. Find a "good" job. Acquire health insurance. Save for retirement. Do everything right, and the bar just keeps moving, the challenges keep getting steeper. After that speech, I know why they called her the Closer. She closed me all over again that night.

So now I'm watching CNN, and the talking heads are discussing how the Republican party is going to come after her. Paint her as the angry black woman, as someone who hates America, as someone "radical". I expect the attacks on Barack. The bullshit about flag pins and lapels and where your hands are during the pledge of allegiance. But when I hear that attacks are coming on Michelle, I get angry.

Michelle Obama is a woman that every American should be proud to have as a First Lady. She came from a working class family in Chicago and managed to attend the finest universities in our nation. She's brilliant, accomplished, and cares deeply about her husband and her children. As a male feminist, I'd happily vote for Michelle Obama if her and Barack were in opposite roles, and I would be proud to be led by her. She's amazing.

I think Roland Martin said it best on that CNN segment: "I think the attacks on Michelle Obama come from Republicans who are uncomfortable with strong, independent women." A-fucking-men. Michelle Obama is a strong, intelligent, independent woman with a point of view and the ability to back it up from her experiences and her education. I think she's going to make a helluva First Lady, and will be a tremendous asset to Barack on the campaign trail. And once America gets a chance to see her and get to know her better, they'll feel the same way.

This campaign tactic of trying to paint Michelle and Barack as black militants is going to backfire against the GOP in a serious way this fall. We live in 2008 now, not 1968. People aren't listening to the bullshit. And organized efforts to tar her character just won't fly. Americans are a good, decent people. This isn't who we are.