they can to come back," Craig said. "Elbows, fouling you. And this is so much bigger. So the tactics are going to be what they're going to be."
ROLE OF A LIFETIME
A couple of things helped ease the sting of the insults. The first was that the attacks seemed to backfire on Barack's opponents. First Clinton, then McCain and then his running mate, vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, seemed to lose support each time they attacked the characters of Barack and Michelle. At the same time, Michelle's star rose. The more the voters saw of her, the more they liked her. That's part of why the attacks backfired. Craig said the difference was "magical." He told reporter Kristen Gelineau, "It's like going to sleep and waking up and you're Tinkerbell."
With weeks left to go before Election Day, November 4, 2008, Michelle and Barack knew they were almost certain to win. The polls from both the Democratic and Republican sides were consistent. Only a sudden news event could have affected the result. John McCain knew that, too.
The Obama campaign was determined to race to the finish line as hard as possible, but the worst part of the worrying was over. Now Michelle had to think about what would come next. As always, she was considering every possibility. But she didn't waste time wondering about which first lady she would use as a role model. "I don't think I can honestly emulate somebody else," she told Richard Wolffe. "I think I can only be who I can be in this role. And that's going to come with all the pluses and minuses and baggage and insecurities and all the things that I'll bring into it, plus my hopes and dreams along with it."
Some of those dreams are personal. For the self-described "Mom-in-Chief," one benefit of moving into the White House is that Barack will be working from home. After all of Barack's time as a state senator in Springfield, Illinois, then as a U.S. Senator in Washington, D.C., and finally as a presidential candidate for twenty months, Michelle finally has her whole family under one roof.
There are also grander hopes. At the Democratic National Convention a few months earlier, she had expressed the one constant theme in her life: "Barack and I ... want our childrenâand all children in this nationâto know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them."
Her example is already proof of that.
----
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Laurie Brown is the reason there's a book.
Thanks to Laurie also for putting it in the hands of Jen Haller, Julia Richardson, Sheila Smallwood, Helena Chandler, Donna McCarthy, Margaret Melvin, John Mendelson, and Betsy Groban.
Thank you to Mark McVeigh, Nancy and Stanley Colbert, Magdalena Alagna, Jill Holt, Mark Grishaber, and Sonia Matthews, for everything.
Many thanks to William Rinehart, Pete and Gethyn Soderman, Randy and Vicki Sturgill, and to the many volunteers and staff in Wilmington, North Carolina, including Chris Bramley, Heather Matheson, Sarah Reamer, Justin Schardin, and Nathan Williams.
----
NOTES
INTRODUCTION
"Can Michelle Obama Be First Lady No Matter What?": Wonkette, November 13, 2007 ( wonkette.com/322259/can-michelle-obama-be-first-lady-no-matter-what ).
"There is no difference": Richard Wolffe, "Barack's Rock,"
Newsweek,
February 25, 2008.
"Nothing is fake": Kim Chipman, "Coach Robinson Knows Real Michelle Obama Amid Attacks,"
Bloomberg,
July 22, 2008.
"My daughters are doing chores": "Barack Obama: The Barbara Walters Interview," ABC News, November 26, 2008.
"Just don't screw it up, buddy": Barack Obama,
The Audacity of Hope
(New York: Crown/Random House, 2006), 359.
CHAPTER 1
"pass a test just by carrying a book under his arm," "as good or better": Wolffe, "Barack's Rock."
"my mentor, my protector, and my lifelong friend": Michelle Obama, Remarks at the Democratic National Convention, August 25, 2008. Transcript from the
New York Times,
August 26, 2008.
"She might seem
ROLE OF A LIFETIME
A couple of things helped ease the sting of the insults. The first was that the attacks seemed to backfire on Barack's opponents. First Clinton, then McCain and then his running mate, vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, seemed to lose support each time they attacked the characters of Barack and Michelle. At the same time, Michelle's star rose. The more the voters saw of her, the more they liked her. That's part of why the attacks backfired. Craig said the difference was "magical." He told reporter Kristen Gelineau, "It's like going to sleep and waking up and you're Tinkerbell."
With weeks left to go before Election Day, November 4, 2008, Michelle and Barack knew they were almost certain to win. The polls from both the Democratic and Republican sides were consistent. Only a sudden news event could have affected the result. John McCain knew that, too.
The Obama campaign was determined to race to the finish line as hard as possible, but the worst part of the worrying was over. Now Michelle had to think about what would come next. As always, she was considering every possibility. But she didn't waste time wondering about which first lady she would use as a role model. "I don't think I can honestly emulate somebody else," she told Richard Wolffe. "I think I can only be who I can be in this role. And that's going to come with all the pluses and minuses and baggage and insecurities and all the things that I'll bring into it, plus my hopes and dreams along with it."
Some of those dreams are personal. For the self-described "Mom-in-Chief," one benefit of moving into the White House is that Barack will be working from home. After all of Barack's time as a state senator in Springfield, Illinois, then as a U.S. Senator in Washington, D.C., and finally as a presidential candidate for twenty months, Michelle finally has her whole family under one roof.
There are also grander hopes. At the Democratic National Convention a few months earlier, she had expressed the one constant theme in her life: "Barack and I ... want our childrenâand all children in this nationâto know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them."
Her example is already proof of that.
----
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Laurie Brown is the reason there's a book.
Thanks to Laurie also for putting it in the hands of Jen Haller, Julia Richardson, Sheila Smallwood, Helena Chandler, Donna McCarthy, Margaret Melvin, John Mendelson, and Betsy Groban.
Thank you to Mark McVeigh, Nancy and Stanley Colbert, Magdalena Alagna, Jill Holt, Mark Grishaber, and Sonia Matthews, for everything.
Many thanks to William Rinehart, Pete and Gethyn Soderman, Randy and Vicki Sturgill, and to the many volunteers and staff in Wilmington, North Carolina, including Chris Bramley, Heather Matheson, Sarah Reamer, Justin Schardin, and Nathan Williams.
----
NOTES
INTRODUCTION
"Can Michelle Obama Be First Lady No Matter What?": Wonkette, November 13, 2007 ( wonkette.com/322259/can-michelle-obama-be-first-lady-no-matter-what ).
"There is no difference": Richard Wolffe, "Barack's Rock,"
Newsweek,
February 25, 2008.
"Nothing is fake": Kim Chipman, "Coach Robinson Knows Real Michelle Obama Amid Attacks,"
Bloomberg,
July 22, 2008.
"My daughters are doing chores": "Barack Obama: The Barbara Walters Interview," ABC News, November 26, 2008.
"Just don't screw it up, buddy": Barack Obama,
The Audacity of Hope
(New York: Crown/Random House, 2006), 359.
CHAPTER 1
"pass a test just by carrying a book under his arm," "as good or better": Wolffe, "Barack's Rock."
"my mentor, my protector, and my lifelong friend": Michelle Obama, Remarks at the Democratic National Convention, August 25, 2008. Transcript from the
New York Times,
August 26, 2008.
"She might seem
Similar Books
