The NY Times has a great article about next steps for Barack Obama as he implements a 50 state strategy for the general election and prepares for Republican attack via print publication, the airwaves, and the internet.
The article talks about the necessary expansion of Barack's staff, which may include members of the Clinton campaign, among others.
The hiring will include staff for Michelle Obama.
This caught my eye -
Recognizing the extent to which Republicans view Michelle Obama’s strong views and personality as a potential liability for her husband, Mr. Obama’s aides said they were preparing to bring aboard senior operatives from previous Democratic presidential campaigns to work with her, a clear departure from the typical way the spouse of a candidate is staffed. Mrs. Obama’s operation would include senior aides devoted to responding to attacks and challenges to her, particularly if she continues to campaign as much as she has so far.
I consider Michelle Obama - her intelligence, her personal strength of character, her strong opinions - to be one of Barack Obama's major assets as a leader.
I hope that the operatives the Obama campaign hires will not seek to muzzle, contain, or dilute her.
The Republicans perceive Michelle Obama as a potential liability because they do not understand that the spouse of a leader can function as his personal equal and adviser; acting as more than eye candy, a stage prop, or a diplomatic stand-in for the president at ceremonial functions.
We Democrats do not expect Michelle Obama, an independent and gifted person, to spend her all her days choosing table settings for state dinners, wallpaper for the White House, or acting as mannequin at ball gown fittings.
There's been a lot of talk about sexism during the Democratic Primary. Well, here's a feminist thought - let's let the next First Lady act like the autonomous and productive woman, business executive, lawyer, wife, and mother that we know she is!
Michelle Obama is like a lot of other women these days. She wears a multitude of task hats and she juggles her myriad duties and responsibilities with grace, tact, intelligence, and grit. She's a great role model for American women who face a hugely expanded set of expectations. Don't restrict or reduce her to a 3-D paper doll, the fate of past First Ladies.
Many of these First Ladies have been remarkable women boxed in by their position as wife to the President, confined to a role much smaller than their ability.
While it is appropriate for the First Lady to represent the country at public ceremonial and diplomatic events, Michelle Obama is capable of so much more, and she should not be muted, contained, or censored by operatives acting in a defensive mode.
The fact is that the GOP would be far better off if they allowed candidates and their wives to learn to think and speak critically, off the play book, and to grow their hearts and minds to encompass their roles as leaders. They seek to attack her because they recognize, in fact, that Michelle Obama is her husband's closest ally and confident. She offers Obama confidentiality, truthful observation, and unmitigated loyalty. She is his fiercest defender and knows him best. To dilute or silence Michelle is to weaken Obama.
In addition, Michelle Obama serves as a role model to girls and young women everywhere. She embodies the idea that a woman can be in a wife, a mother, AND an independent woman with strong opinions and a public persona.
We need only to read again the letters that passed between Abigail and John Adams to understand the role such a man's wife can truly play in determining the course of a presidential administration. Imagine Abigail unconstrained by the mores of the time, the constraints of cultural expectations. Realize how much more Abigail, and John, could have achieved if she'd been free to speak and act openly on the country's behalf.
Michelle Obama offers us, as a country, a deep reservoir of ability and intelligence, but only if we do not seek to limit her because we are afraid.
There is so much serious work to be done. Michelle Obama is perfectly capable of taking a 21st Century leadership role in the presidential administration.
Even as the GOP has expanded the role of the unaccountable and secretive Vice President, we should not flinch or cower in a defensive mode and limit the role of the First Lady.
I sincerely hope that political professionals and operatives are not allowed to diminish or silence Michelle Obama in any way.