Michelle Obama Works on Her Image
Published in Le Monde
(France) on 6/20/08
by Cécile Dehesdin (link to original)
(France) on 6/20/08
by Cécile Dehesdin (link to original)
Translated from
by Sarah Whorton.
Edited by .
Since she has become the center of attacks and controversies, Michelle Obama, the Democratic candidate’s wife, has worked hard with the campaign team to modify her image. The first step, her noted appearance on the popular television show “The View,” on Wednesday, June 18.
The Democratic first lady’s carelessness, at first seen as an asset, has quickly become a handicap. In February, she said to a crowd of electors that, “for the first time in [her] adult life,” she was “proud of [her] country.” This declaration triggered Republican attacks on her supposed lack of patriotism.
Since, she has often been described as an “angry black woman” who doesn’t like America, a term that echoes the race questions that Barack Obama’s campaign team was looking to avoid. The Republican team has since re-released her sociology thesis from twenty-four years ago, obtained from Princeton, in which she asked whether “the immersion in an elite white institution would lead blacks further away from their community.”
Michelle Obama profited from her appearance on “The View” by repeating what she meant by these words several months earlier, explaining that she had always been proud of her country, and that she was speaking of pride in the political process after seeing so many people become involved in the campaign. “Of course I am proud of my country, my story would not be possible anywhere else but America.”
According to the New York Times, Democratic first ladies are traditionally defined by their adversaries as too direct and radical. The Democratic team’s goal is now double: to stop the rumors of Michelle Obama’s anti-patriotism, and to make her a woman that is easier to approach, less imposing, and who could participate more in efforts to remove the elitist label that Barack Obama has had since the beginning of his campaign. So, during “The View,” she concentrated more on her role of mother and her humble family background than on her diplomas.
The Democratic first lady’s carelessness, at first seen as an asset, has quickly become a handicap. In February, she said to a crowd of electors that, “for the first time in [her] adult life,” she was “proud of [her] country.” This declaration triggered Republican attacks on her supposed lack of patriotism.
Since, she has often been described as an “angry black woman” who doesn’t like America, a term that echoes the race questions that Barack Obama’s campaign team was looking to avoid. The Republican team has since re-released her sociology thesis from twenty-four years ago, obtained from Princeton, in which she asked whether “the immersion in an elite white institution would lead blacks further away from their community.”
Michelle Obama profited from her appearance on “The View” by repeating what she meant by these words several months earlier, explaining that she had always been proud of her country, and that she was speaking of pride in the political process after seeing so many people become involved in the campaign. “Of course I am proud of my country, my story would not be possible anywhere else but America.”
According to the New York Times, Democratic first ladies are traditionally defined by their adversaries as too direct and radical. The Democratic team’s goal is now double: to stop the rumors of Michelle Obama’s anti-patriotism, and to make her a woman that is easier to approach, less imposing, and who could participate more in efforts to remove the elitist label that Barack Obama has had since the beginning of his campaign. So, during “The View,” she concentrated more on her role of mother and her humble family background than on her diplomas.