So I dont know whos seen this story, since its been around for a few days, but there is a new poll out suggesting that in 2016 First Lady Michelle Obama could run for, and win by a double digit margin, her husband's old senate seat from its current occupant, Republican Mark Kirk. And I gotta be honest, its the worst idea I've heard all freaking week.
It's not that I like Mark Kirk, far from it. it's the rational behind electing Michelle Obama that I object too. According to most articles, the two big reasons (other then personal popularity) given for wanting to elect her are Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. Specifically that people in Illinois figure the really liked her husband, and shes probably the closest thing they can get to her husband, and that we know thanks to Hilary first ladies know alot about politics and will be good at the job.
But see here are the problems: First, Michelle Obama isnt Hilary Clinton, she's Laura Bush. By that what I mean is this, Hilary Clinton was involved in politics from the time she was a young girl, she volunteered for the Goldwater campaign at 17, and majored in political science at Wellesley College where she ran for and won election as Presdient of the Government Association and later became an intern to the House Republican Caucus. After becoming a Democrat she worked for Senator Walter Mondale in graduate school, them got her first paying job working on the losing senate race of a guy named Joseph Duffy. All of that by the way, before she got married. After he got married she not only kept up a fair amount of political advocacy work, but was appointed by her husband to head up the Rural Health Advisory Committee, and later the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee both when he was Governor of Arkansas. And after he became president Bill appointed her to head the Task Force on National Health Care Reform.
NONE of that by the way is remotely comparable to Michelle Obama, who's only political "experience" like Laura Bush, and pretty much every other first lady not named Clinton or Roosevelt, is being First Lady. I mean look, both Bush and Obama are very well educated and smart women (they and Clinon are the only three first ladys in history to have advanced degrees), they would just both be equally bad politicians since they have no background in it. Just because Hilary turned out to be a great politician, means nothing as far as Michelle and those who would vote for her as the second coming of Hilary are fools.
Now as to the idea she might be the second coming of her husband, to be honest this is a very common idea in American politics. Of the 278 women ever elected to congress, 61 (21%) of them have replaced their Husbands or fathers, 49 of those directly replacing their husbands on time of death. So yea 1 out of 5 women elected have gotten there replacing a man they were related to. And many of them are successful in the job and serve many terms in their own right. Of course most of them wind up being drastically different then their husbands were (women are actually their own people...shocking)
So maybe Michelle will follow in their molds, and be pretty good. Or maybe she'll be in the category of those who burn out and fail.
But see heres the thing, and the reason elected her to replace her husband is a dumb idea......her husband is still alive, and therefore still eligible to run for senate himself. I know what your thinking "But her husband will have just finished his second term as president in 2016" And? Show me where it's written he cant take another public office after being president?
I'll give you a clue. Its not written any where, because it is perfectly allowable.
Its also not without precedent. Former President William Howard Taft, later became Chief Justice Taft of the Supreme Court of the United States. John Quincy Adams later became (and died as) U.S. Representative John Quincy Adams. John Tyler was elected (but died prior to being able to take office) to the congress of the Confederate States of America
It's even more common among Vice Presidents, 6 of them have become US Senators, 2 ambassadors and 2 Cabinet Secretaries, and 1 Governor, 1 commission head and 1 state Representative.
But yea there is absolutely nothing that says the Oval Office has to be the last stop on the political road for Barack Obama or any other president, and to be honest if the state of Illinois likes the job he did so much they would be much better served electing him then electing his wife.
No disrespect to the First Lady, but really why would you take the "closest thing you can get to Barack Obama" when you can have Barack Obama himself?
Course I realize that since neither Obama wants the job, this whole blog is likely a moot point, but that said I do think it serves to shed some light on the commonly and incorrectly held assumptions that being President ends your career and also shows the still all to common way women are able to be elected in the first place, and how much we as a country think of a "couple identity" that is that both halves of a couple are interchangeable.
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