Thursday, February 14, 2008

The Other Campaign Spouse

While Bill Clinton has been at the front of much of the primary politics thus far this year, the New York Times published an interesting speech on Barak Obama’s wife, Michelle Obama. She brings a number of important assets to his campaign such as:

-strong oratory skills which allow her to give effective speeches, campaigning in different cities than Barak

-an emphasis upon unity rather than focusing on things like race and gender

-a bluntness that Barak certainly does not exude in his campaign

-a sense of humor that many people enjoy, though not always well-liked

This story is another excellent example of another possible reason, on top of recent developments such as Clinton’s campaign manager resigning, that Barak seems to have gained much of the momentum in the Democratic primaries. Bill Clinton’s campaigning for Hillary was generally attacking Barak directly, drawing a host of media attention, much of it negative. Behind the scenes, however, Michelle Obama has been working hard to help advance Barak’s campaign without drawing the same sort of negative fire.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/us/politics/14michelle.html?ei=5065&en=9f0714917e0c6d7e&ex=1203570000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

2 comments:

Matt P said...

I think the Michelle Obama story is very interesting but I'm not surprised it hasn't been a cover story. She has definitely been a beneficial asset to Obama's campaign because she is intelligent and strong, but remember that it's difficult to compare Obama's spouse to Clinton's. She is not a former president. I don't remember a past election that focused on the first lady. This is the first election in history where the potential spouse to the President was once a president himself. President Clinton has definitely put himself out there, and I don't necessarily agree with the ways in which he has portrayed himself during this campaign, but I think it's unfair to compare the two. He is a front page story every time he opens his mouth because he was a former president. He is one of our more revered president's, and at least initially, his presence was a huge bonus for the Clinton campaign.

Reauna said...

There is a huge difference in how Michelle Obama has been covered to how Bill CLinton has been covered. I think Michelle has done an excellent job in supporting her husband, while Bill has attracted a lot of attention which hasn't been so positive. But like Matt has mentinoed, we must remember that more attention will automatically be focused in Bill due to him being a former president.