Thursday, 06 November 2008

• Michelle Obama is Superb

  I watched Obama give his speech acknowledging that he'd won the election the other night, and I have to admit, I had a tear in my eye. It was just such a huge moment. I didn't think it would be at first because I'm pretty jaded about politics. And this election season seemed to drag on forever. Plus I didn't really get a handle on Obama as a candidate for a long time because Hilary was in the way.
  
  One thing I've been struck by every time I see footage of Obama's lovely wife, Michelle, is that she seems truly at home in front of the camera. No awkward, potentially pharmaceutically enhanced posing a la Cindy McCain. No blank doe eyes like Laura "eye lift 'til they're pointing upward" Bush. Just a striking, elegant, and "normal" seeming gal who appears perfectly at home dealing with dignitaries as well as nameless old ladies in the crowd. I'm struck by her warmth and her groundedness.
  
  I think it's great that we have someone youngish in the office and I hope Obama can take that Generation X/on the heels of the Baby Boomers generational energy and make something fabulous out of this Presidency. He's a sharp cookie and I think better than just about anybody else who ran for office this time he can give us a nuanced, complex type of leadership that will avoid the simplistic black or white approach that got us into such trouble over the past eight years. We don't need cowboys. We don't need poseurs. We don't need arrogance.
  
  In one part of his speech Tuesday night Obama talked about how this office doesn't belong to him - it belongs to everybody who worked so hard to put him in office and who sought a representative who would speak for them.  That level of humility is refreshing and I hope he is able to keep it in the face of all the pressures that will come.
  
  And I hope Michelle will stay exactly who she is - a lady of humor, intelligence, and genuine emotional engagement.
  
  

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