and the sooner the better. I am a strong Obama supporter, but I am by no means immune to seeing faults in my candidate or his close confidantes. Today Michelle Obama made a tremendous gaffe. For those of you not already aware, she said, "For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country..."
Later she clarified that,. "For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country..." Not good enough Michelle. You stepped in it this time. You need to wipe your feet. You need to apologize, emphatically and forcefully.
I want you to win, and I want you to win BIG... and it's going to be more difficult if a meme that "Michelle Obama is unpatriotic AND full of herself" gets traction, especially since Senator Obama is running on a campaign of unity and moving beyond politics-as-usual. Republicans are going to push this quote with half a billion dollars of attack money.
Now, if what you said is genuinely true, that you've never felt proud of America in your adult life until now... well... more power to you, don't apologize. I respect honesty. But this is something that will be played over, and over, and over, and OVER, and OVER, and OVER, until you apologize. It will serve to drive up your negatives, and more importantly, Obama's negatives. It plays into the worst stereotypes of liberal progressives--that we are unpatriotic, that we hate America, that we thumb our noses at ordinary Americans. Michelle, I am confident this is not the case with you. But not everybody is in your camp yet, Michelle. That's why you should apologize now, rather than later, after people have already made up their minds.
Update 1: I'm seeing a lot of anger in the comments that I'm even bringing this up. Don't shoot the messenger. We're all flying high right now, and I think some of our heads are a bit in the clouds. Don't lose perspective. The fight is not over. Maybe an apology isn't necessary, but this is something that should be discussed.
Update 2: Apparently Michelle only said "For the first time in my adult life, I'm really proud of my country" once... not twice as I implied. The quote without the "really" was a tricky media video/audio edit. I'm sorry for the misinformation. Still, I don't think the "really" modifier changes anything.
Update 3: Here is a video of the comment:
Update 4: I'm seeing a lot of people saying there's nothing to be proud of over the past 20-25 years. Is that your defense? Wow, what a great message to send to Republicans and Independents!
Update 5: Time Magazine's Mark Halperin weighs in.