She's a strong woman; we've all come to know and witness that. Elegant, brave, unwavering, far from easy to intimidate. And she wears it all so lightly.
Yet, after Senator Clinton's quip today about a primary assassination in June, I wonder what Michelle Obama and her children are thinking tonight, what they're doing, how they're processing this latest salvo from the other side. The rest over the fold.
In early February on 60 minutes, Steve Kroft put it to her this way:
Steve Kroft: This is a tough question to ask, but a number of years ago Colin Powell of thinking of running for President, and his wife Alma really did not want him to run. She was worried about some crazy person with a gun. Has that been a factor, I mean, have you talked about that, is that something you should think about?
Here's how she responded:
Even so, as a partner, as a spouse, as the mother of two young children, I wonder if Michelle Obama is not huddling together with her daughters tonight, not fretting over her husband's safety, no, but shedding a tear for our party and our politics, crying just a little that it could all come to this, trying to reassure her babies that Daddy will be just fine and yet, deep inside somewhere, just a little worried for her children's father and the love of her life.
Is this really what our politics in the Democratic Party has come down to, this awful, awful sordid thought that anything is possible, even the most darned horrifying, and that is good cause to hang around in a presidential race: just in case?
Just thinking out loud, people. Perhaps we all ought to write Michelle Obama and her family letters of support and assurance this weekend that we are with them and everything'll be just fine.