Political Nanny : michelle obama

Patriot Games

Madeline Holler — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 19:09:00 GMT

Hillary Clinton -- and really, everybody -- has found it difficult to criticize her "friend" Barack Obama. But rabid Republican bullies have (finally!) found a little something negative they can pile into the Swift Boat, docked as it is, waiting to be called to serve.

Just how might they attack the adored and gifted orator with an alarming amount of political party cross-over appeal?

They're questioning his patriotism.

Now, examining Obama's love for the U.S. isn't new. Over the summer, a picture of him without his hand over his heart started rumors (detractors claimed it was during the Pledge of Allegiance; in actuality, it was during the National Anthem wear hand/heart coverage is optional). Then it was noted that during the run-up to the Iraq war, Obama stopped wearing American flag label pins ("a substitute for, I think, true patriotism," he said.). There was also a brief detour into calling the avowed Christian a Muslim (which, for religious conservatives, IS like calling someone un-American). But that was finally settled at a debate in January.

Then, oops!, his wife Michelle went and said something about being proud of the U.S. for the first time in her life, a statement that was plucked from its context and plunked down into a small but growing collection of negative material against Obama -- for use this fall if/when he is the Democratic nominee.

Obama will be running against a former POW and decorated war veteran, a fact that we'll no doubt hear endlessly. But Political Nanny would not be surprised to see this gifted orator turn any patriot games into a heartfelt, emotionally inspiring call for all of us to love not just America, but Americans!, a little more and a lot less conditionally. There will be swooning and donations and an opponent who will look older, meaner, petty and perhaps seriously out of touch.

McCain, Political Nanny doesn't mind the squabbling, but you might not want to go exactly there.

Mama Obama On American Life and Luck

Madeline Holler — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:14:00 GMT

Michelle Obama, whose "proud for the first time" gaffe was mercifully buried by McCain's possible blonde lobbyist indiscretion later in the week, explains how, if things have been so bad in this country, she and her husband seem to be doing just fine.

Luck. She's says it's all due to good luck.

From the LA Times:

Michelle Obama often says the fact that she and her husband are out of debt is due to sheer luck, because they could not have predicted that his two books would become bestsellers. "It was like, 'Let's put all our money on red!' " she told a crowd at Ohio State University on Friday. "It wasn't a financial plan! We were lucky! And it shouldn't have been based on luck, because we worked hard."

But it shouldn't have to ride on luck, she argues. Nor should we have a country full of hedge-fund managers and corporate attorneys.

People can't raise a family on one salary anymore, she says. They can't afford to get sick even if they have insurance because of deductibles, premiums and the high cost of medication. They can't confidently send their kids to neighborhood public schools because so many of them are so bad. Young people can't afford to attend college to become teachers or nurses or journalists because those jobs don't pay enough to repay college loans.

Political Nanny doubts it's only luck -- the couple seemed already well set before he published his first book. But still, the Obama's do seem rather lucky. Didn't he launch his national political career running against Alan Keyes?

Scrapbooking the Election: Candidates in Love

Madeline Holler — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:02:00 GMT

Warning: this might be a little like walking in on your parents. So if you've got some unresolved issues, you'll want to move on to the next blog. Because today, the loviest day of the year, we're going to take a peek at how the final four candidates fell in love (and how they show it now).

GOP Love: John and Cindy McCain

Now, the McCains' love is never on full display. We have to search for the subtle clues. But here's how he describes the night that they met:

From AZ Central.com: She was lovely, intelligent and charming, 17 years my junior but poised and confident. I monopolized her attention the entire time, taking care to prevent anyone else from intruding on our conversation. When it came time to leave the party, I persuaded her to join me for drinks at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. By the evening's end, I was in love."

Flashforward 28 years ... Here they are as his campaign surge begins after New Hampshire.

On her blog, the McCain's daughter describes this photo as her mom and dad "having a moment."

John and Cindy McCain in a hotel room (no, not like that. Bummer.)

Southern Love: Janet and Mike Huckabee

From The Knot: It was young love for Mike and Janet, who met during junior high school. The two started dating their senior year of high school. Before Mike proposed, he asked permission from Janet's mother and stepfather. "I didn't have money for a ring yet, so I used a pull-tab from a soda can and proposed to her in her living room," Mike says.

Mike and Janet Huckabee's wedding day, May 25, 1974.

Must be inauguration day. Huckabee's in his fat phase. More of him for Janet to love?

Puppy love. Or not. Janet and a slimmed down Mike are in the Arkansas governor's mansion. Looky in the background! Governors' names are tiled into the steps. Fancy!

The Most Examined Marriage in National History: Bill and Hillary Clinton

From The Knot: It all began in the library for Hillary and Bill. "I noticed that he kept looking over at me," Hillary says. "He had been doing a lot of that." After exchanging several looks back and forth, Hillary stood up and walked over to Bill. "I said 'If you're going to keep looking at me, and I'm going to keep looking back, we might as well be introduced -- I'm Hillary Rodham," she says. "The way Bill tells the story, he couldn't remember his own name."

Wedding Day, Oct. 11, 1975

A kiss in Little Rock, Ark., 1992 (From the Telegraph)

He's a former president, she's a new senator. Bill and Hillary in 2001.

Now she's a presidential candidate. And he's, well, sometimes her advocate, sometimes locked away in a closet and told to be quiet. A kiss in the rain, November 2007.

America's Newest Political Sweethearts: Michelle and Barack Obama

It took a month of asking before Michelle would agree to go out with Barack. They went to "Do the Right Thing" on their first date. Then it was love. He swept her off her feet.

Wedding Day, October 18, 1992, at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

A snuggle in Illinois (love the camera ... that must feel so private!) For more on Michelle and the Obama marriage, go here and here.

A post 2004 monumental, much talked about, life-changing Democratic National convention speech. (Needless to say, well done, Barack!)

And in 2008 conceding New Hampshire (hey, don't look so sad. Like a good marriage, you're campaign is about to get better ... much, much better)

Candidates' Cribs: Their Digs, Pre-White House

Madeline Holler — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 22:10:00 GMT

Readers, rest assured. America's housing market meltdown won't leave any of the candidates without a very, very pleasant roof over their heads. But you're kind for caring. How about we take a peek at those roofs and do a little real estate market analysis, you know, on behalf of those candidates who don't manage the upgrade to something bigger and whiter.

Mother Jones was kind enough to assemble a photo album of many of the top candidates' domiciles and CNBC ran the numbers.

John Edwards, that son of a mill worker, lives in the most expensive house of any of the candidates. His rambling $6 million compound, which he purchased in 2007, has risen in value over 4 percent. Think he went the exotic loan route? Incidentally, the average home value in his North Carolina county is $365,000. He's defintely on the other side of the tracks . And when this Chapel Hill estate won't suffice, he's got his $1.08 million beach home.

Rudy Giuliani lives in a $5.25 million nine-room co-op in Manhattan's Upper East Side, by far the best of all the candidate's cribs, in Political Nanny's opinion. The Manhattan housing market has been quite good to him -- the median price of a Manhattan apartment has risen 14 percent since moving day a few years ago. The average cost of a Manhattan apartment is $1.5 million, which, in local money, is kind of slummy, right?

Next up, John McCain's $3 million Phoenix condo (which, according to MoJo, is actually two condos combined into one). We all know the market in Arizona's cities is tanking. The average home price in Phoenix is $428,000, down 1.8 percent in the last nine months. Now, from the outside, his condo looks like a hospital. But for beauty, he can always go to his $1.1 million 6-acre ranch in Sedona.

A tie between Hillary Clinton's Westchester, N.Y., home price and the home Mitt Romney has in Belmont, Mass. There are others. These houses cost the candidates $1.7 million. Clinton has a slight edge in that her neighborhood's prices are down just 2.8 percent, while the Romney's are watching a 9 percent decrease around them. For the Clintons, the average price in the area is $1.13 million. For Mitt and family, the median home price in Belmont is $680,000. (MoJo pictures his $3 million New Hampshire house on a lake, which should not be confused with his $5.5 million main residence, a former ski resort in Park City, Utah. Yow!)

Barack Obama bought his almost-South-Side Chicago house -- a beauty -- for $1.65 million in 2005 (the height of the market, what was he thinking?!). The average value of a home in his area is $310,315. Overall, prices are up 1 percent, so, he's doing OK and won't likely need to take advantage of Hillary's mortgage bailout plans.

Missing from the market analysis: the stats on Fred Thompson's McClean, Va., home, which set the Thompsons back $3.3 million. With prices dropping in the Northeast, though, we'd hate to see him get upside down on his financing. And also Mike Huckabee's Little Rock McMansion, which he and his wife paid $525,00. Sounds like a steal, but we're guessing it's one of the more pricey homes in Arkansas. Which would explain why they registered for house-warming gifts after they bought it.

Now, for any of the candidates trying to establish some Green credentials, Political Nanny's advice is: install solar panels and change those incandescent bulbs, quick! Most of these rather enormous homes likely have an oversized and embarassing carbon footprint. We're just saying ...

Finally, the ones missing from the collection are two that Political Nanny would have really liked to see and also a pair that could give some perspective: the homes of Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich. Send over the links if you think you have tracked either or both of them down. Is Political Nanny alone in imagining Kucinich's digs might bear some resemblance to Austin Power's pad? No, only her?

Reset the Tivo: Michelle Obama Won’t Cross the Picket-Line

Madeline Holler — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 11:34:00 GMT

Sigh. Political Nanny had this Wednesday morning alllll planned out. Drop kids at school early. Skip the gym. Brew extra cup of coffee. Tune television into … deep breath … The View. After all, Michelle Obama would be sitting in all morning (and Elisabeth Hasselbeck would still be away on maternity leave).

Damn that writers strike! Damn the conscience of a Democrat! Michelle Obama, wife of sometimes Iowa front-runner Barack Obama, refuses to cross the picket line and will not be guest-hosting the gabfest as previously reported.

Political Nanny will give updates the minute she hears of Obama being rescheduled. In the meantime, indulge in the confluence of The View and politics with Tuesday’s scheduled appearance of Ron Paul. (Political Nanny’s apologies, but she’s going to the gym and won’t be watching either.)