"I Do Hugs"-The First Lady's Real Fashion Statement

"If you want to know the reason why I am standing here, it's because of education... "I never cut class. I loved getting A's, I liked being smart. ... I thought being smart is cooler than anything in the world."

Azzedine Alaia

This week Michelle Obama stepped onto the world stage in her Jimmy Choos and did more than show off her Thakoon clad style...she showed her heart.

While the President carries the weight of the world with a desk filled with nightmares, it is Michelle who is the uplifting presence, spreading inspiration and hope with a warmth and spirit that is genuine-winning over even Her Majesty.

Isabel Toledo

While watching the First Lady enter to meet the Queen I got a rush of excitement for her. The little girl from the South Side of Chicago, who shared a room with her brother while growing up, was having tea at Buckingham Palace with The Queen of England!...and she looked very much at home.

Thakoon Coat

Much has been written about her wardrobe this trip of course-she chose versatility and designers that reflect her personality from Michael Kors to Azzedine Alaia, Isabel Toledo, Thakoon and J.Crew!

As she stood next to Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, pussycat bow to pussycat bow and kitten heel to flat,I thought one of these women is playing a role- costume design by Dior of course, and the other is being who she is-independent, strong, smart, glamorous and yes, real! An American woman living her life under extraordinary circumstances while staying true to her core.

Junya Watanabe Cardigan

It was at the Elizabeth Anderson Garrett School,however, her first solo of the trip, that Europe had the chance to see up close the woman that is Michelle Obama.

As she watched and listened to performances and speeches from students of the school it was clear she was moved by them. When she spoke to over 100 students, ages 11-17 all from an incredibly diverse backgrounds ( over 55 languages are spoken at the school) she left them with a moment and a message they will always remember.

"When I look at a performance like this, it just reminds me that there are diamonds like this all over the world... All of you are precious and you touch my heart, and it's important for the world to know that there are wonderful girls like you all over the world."

"I am an example of what is possible when girls, from the very beginning of their lives, are loved and nurtured by the people around them.""I was surrounded by extraordinary women in my life who taught me about quiet strength and dignity...

You too can control your own destiny, please remember that...Whether you come from a council estate or a country estate, your success will be determined by your own confidence and fortitude...It won't be easy, that's for sure, but you have everything you need. Everything you need you already have right here...

We are counting on you, we are counting on every single one of you to be the best that you can be. We know you can do it, we love you..."

As the world becomes darker it is obvious that it is Michelle Obama who will carry that message of Hope and be the face of promise. This First Lady will be the force that creates change in the hearts and minds of young girls all over the world. A role model and an inspiration, she will lead them to believe in themselves and in their ability to be whoever they want to be no matter their background, no matter their upbringing , no matter what they look like or where they live in the world.

The Women who Applaud

The election of 2008 has been an amazing ride for those of us for whom watching politics is a sport. Now we are in the Playoffs! The balloons have dropped, the confetti swept up(do you think they recylced it?)and the pundits have gone back to their corners awaiting the first debate.

This election has been about many things, but for me the spotlight has been on the women of campaign 2008. Of course there are the candidates...Hillary made history and secured a position for not only her future ambitions, but also for any woman seeking to create change... and Sarah...well she is making waves. Her presence on the scene has ignited the McCain base but can she play in Portland, Poughkeepsie, or Peoria?? We will see, but we do know that Emily's List has to be in their glory this season. Women have arrived at The Party, they may have been at the party for many years but only to serve hors d'oeuvres, finally their voices are not only being heard but are moving voters- and not just the traditional women's block.

The women that really interested me through the conventions,however, are the women whose role it is to not run for any formal office but to ride the campaign trail and support "their guys". Nothing new there for the wife of a candidate, but the women at the side of these candidates are not sitting watching in quiet reverence. They are drawing crowds of their own,not staying on script,and making the case with an energy and emotional drive that doesn't necessarily fit who you might think they are. Given an election year that has never played by the rules why should we be surprised.

(Dolly Madison)

Hillary Rodham set the path for a new view of First Lady, outspoken, accomplished, determined, ambitious, talented and brilliant...we had never seen a First Lady with all that and it annoyed many and inspired more. Laura Bush has brought us back to the traditional view-serene,accomplished and not in the way. There is a fascinating new book of fiction loosely based on Laura Bush that reveals much about this woman-- Curtis Sittenfeld's American Wife: A Novel(watch for the review in Applause!)--who has been the gracious calm in the storm that has been her husband's presidency.

The women of campaign 2008 could not be more different, and perhaps that is what has made them so fascinating. A woman born to privilege who has lived her public role extremely privately, raising her children and working for charities with a drive that reveals a great deal behind the pearls and designer suits; and a woman who grew up in working class Chicago, whose family roots are her base and who walked into Princeton as one of a just a handful who looked like her and became determined to effect change with her gifts.

It is interesting because up until recent weeks I always saw Cindy McCain as a Stepford (Candidate’s) Wife, but her PR folks(or John’s) have been peeling away her ice queen layers--the article in Vogue with her hair down which obviously received good reviews as we see her that way more now, GMA did a piece with her best friend chatting about who Cindy really is... and this week she walked on precarious heels into the glare of the circus that is campaign politics not with reserve or ice but with style and a forceful emotional voice to support her husband. Cindy McCain's cool elegant presence hides the emotional woman she is and glimpses beyond the public reserve have been refreshing and I would guess have gone a long way toward the embrace she received at this week's convention. I would think she surprised many who knew she never wanted to make a speech. She stepped onto that stage that she obviously has avoided for most of her husband's career and demonstrated that she is her own woman, intelligent,very capable, a passionate mother…but it is obvious she doesn’t want to be here. She may love her husband but theirs is an interesting marriage, a long distance marriage that has given Cindy McCain her own life to carve out without the presence of her husband. You do not get the sense of partnership that you do with the Obama’s. I think Cindy McCain would be a relatively absent and extremely low key First Lady. She has her causes and would probably continue to lead her life as she does and be present and public when asked to be… but this is not a role she wants.

Michelle Obama has a very different kind of grace. Clearly the Obamas are a true partnership, a 21st century couple with complete respect for each other and a very readable bond. Much has been written about her role in the campaign. She clearly has been a great asset and mainly because she is real and honest. I don’t feel like they packaged Michelle nor could they. She is not standing by his side, eyes glazed, nodding at his every word. She is part of the fabric of the Obama movement and her voice is not only that of wife and mother of his children, but also as the person who “gets him” the best and who has made him accessible and approachable. You get the feeling that if he ever comes off as elitist, or too smart for the voters he is reaching out to, that she is the one that puts him back in touch with who he is.

I imagine that Michelle Obama will serve tea with the best of them, probably better, and will even reflect Jackie-esque qualities, but she will also raise her children in the greatest fish bowl there is, and more than likely with her historic presence redefine the image of First Lady forever in a way that Hillary could not. I don’t think Michelle has an agenda or role that she wants to assume-she isn’t looking for a seat at cabinet meetings-she won’t need one. She is too much her own person, and too aware of the significance of what this couple can do to change this country, not to be seen and heard in an Obama administration.

I think the key to Michelle Obama is that she is real, not packaged,her story is the story of so many women of our generation who found ourselves with options and opportunities our mothers did not have, and for women of color opportunities their Fathers did not have either. Therefore she can walk between the past and the future-see her parents and see her children and understand that she will represent more than a pretty lady in pearls and couture who checks placecards. She is an independent, intelligent, capable woman with her own identity and credentials and stature, she does not need Barack Obama to define her- much like Hillary’s resume. The difference I see is that Michelle Obama does not need to show that or prove that..she just is that.

First Lady is not a job, it is not a policy post, but since the Kennedys we have had expectations for the woman who shares a bedroom with the most powerful man on earth. We will one day see a man take on that strange role but for this election I think it is Michelle Obama who will show up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with a respect for history but also with a determination that she is a part of a team that is there to change history’s perception of not only a First Lady but also a Presidency.

Poltical Gamble, Reckless Choice

I have never thought of John McCain as an irresponsible politician. Maverick at times yes, but always smart and cunning. The move he made yesterday cemented for me the real threat that he could be to this country, that is something that I never processed about him.

The selection of Gov. Sarah Palin was a move made by a campaign that clearly saw it needed to pull the rug out of the momentum that the Obama campaign forged in Denver this week. They may have very well succeeded. By launching the biggest surprise in campaign politics the McCain-Palin ticket swiveled the national spotlight in a whip-lash. Once the dust settles and the media moves on,however,-there is a massive storm heading for a very fragile gulf coast this weekend-there are questions about John McCain's judgement that must be examined. Did this get the results he wanted? Absolutely. Gov. Palin fills many holes that McCain had problems with especially with conservatives. Gun ownership, right to life,the woman's vote...looks like he smashed or made huge dents in each block in one very daring decision.

This decision,however,demonstrates a John McCain that we have not seen a lot of this campaign-he was supposed to be the candidate that was safe, secure...

This was an Absurdly reckless choice! which is unbelievably insulting to women and demonstrates McCain's antiquated narrow thinking.

With all due respect to Governor Palin and her accomplishments she is no more prepared to step into the presidency than Cindy McCain. Being mayor of a small Alaskan town and a governor of a remote state for less than 2 years does not qualify anyone, male or female, for the highest office in the land-especially at the most frightening time in history. Her lack of foreign policy experience aside, and that is a huge aside, what first hand knowledge does she have of the people of this country? This is not a slight on the beautiful state of Alaska but it is not reflective of the majority of this country in its needs. How many Americans shoot their own dinner these days? How much understanding can this woman bring to the lives of most Americans?

John McCain is not a young man and has had cancer more than once. His choice for VP shows an arrogance and a commitment to tabloid politics not to substance. Again, this is reckless.

If he wanted to play the gender card there are so many far more qualified republican women than Gov Palin. In fact, it could be argued that this is an insult to those women who have demonstrated their leadership through years of service. Was the shock factor the reason for this choice, if so then the republicans have left themselves wide open for attack.

John McCain has once again demonstrated with this choice how completely out of touch he is with the country he believes he should serve. I am also surprised at his campaign advisers allowing this choice...This is a HUGE gamble...did they not watch anything that went on in Denver? The women who supported Hillary are not women who would EVER vote for a pro-gun anti-abortion candidate. To throw someone with no international or security experience into the ring just to get the attention of women is unbelievable-he only met her once! I have thought many things about John McCain but stupid has never been one of them.

This looks like a political stunt to inject enthusiasm into a campaign that could never match the energy that Denver produced. Will he succeed in bringing on board the conservatives that he needs, slam dunk, they just needed an excuse to shift his way. He will not,however, win over Hillary supporters, for the majority Obama did that this week. The fact that in her first remarks to the press Gov Palin, who had been a critic of Hillary Clinton's, invoked her 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling remark is an insult, mainly because she doesn't get it-if she did she would not have walked in that direction. An accomplished woman no doubt, a woman who may in fact endear herself to many with intelligence,charm and a maverick's persona,but a woman who is not prepared for this job.

Why wouldn't McCain pick an experienced woman for the ticket? Why take such a risk...the campaign had no choice but to go for the shock value. The Obama momentum could only be overshadowed by a move such as this. McCain did not pick a woman just to pick a woman, he selected a woman that conservatives could live with and show off. In the end the numbers will tell-and I am afraid those numbers will come down to reflecting not gender, as the McCain camp must know, but to race.

As political theatre,however, you gotta love it! For the first time in anyone's memory, the vice presidential debate will be relevant, it will be must see viewing, and add to the amazing ride this election year has been. From a political junkie's chair, how much more fun could this get!! From a citizen's perspective,however, how much more frightening could the prospect of a President Palin be? Don't play with us John McCain, this is our future you are fooling with.

Voting History, Voting Hope

"I am sick and tired of being sick and tired...Nobody's free until everybody's free..All of this is on account we want to register [sic], to become first-class citizens, and if the Freedom Democratic Party is not seated now, I question America. Is this America, the land of the free and the home of the brave where we have to sleep with our telephones off the hooks because our lives be threatened daily because we want to live as decent human beings - in America?"Fannie Lou Hamer,1964

Traditionally in contemporary American politics primary campaigns have been more of a yawn and less of an awakening. Who cared? Who actually went to the polls? Who watched debates? Network television barely covered nominating conventions. This time, this year, this election, has been to say the least a whole new ballgame in American political history. For a political junkie this has been the World Series, the Superbowl and the NBA finals rolled into one. For a woman who has never questioned that a woman's place was in fact in the House and in the Senate, this was a time that was long overdue. For a student of history, 44 years after Fannie Lou Hamer's stood with her Freedom Democrats and challenged Mississippi's all white delegation to the Democratic convention, this was as if a very old window that had been nailed shut has fallen off its hinges and blown open by an insistent breeze.

Tonight after 16 months of a campaign that people actually cared about,actually showed up for, actually watched and participated in-after a campaign during which extraordinary numbers of people got involved and voted, many of whom had never been interested, involved or even voted before, Barack Obama, the junior Senator from Illinois, achieved enough delegates to become the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

Barack Obama's story is an American story...so is Hillary Clinton's, and that is why so many cared, so many came and listened and voted. The irony of course being that the challenge to Hillary's campaign has been a candidate that she and her husband had embraced and would have under any other circumstances stood proudly to support. Barack Obama became the surprise obstacle in her way. As wonderful as this campaign has been to watch it has been tough to see the two lights of hope and change, the two individuals who could make this country care again, and believe that we can reinvent how this nation works, go against one another.

On this historic night when the first African American candidate has earned enough delegates to be the nominee, and the first serious woman candidate has 18 million reasons to believe there is more she has to contribute, there is a decision to be made from both campaigns. A decision that can determine whether all these many months have truly meant the change they put forth. The numbers are still very close and it is obvious Hillary Clinton has not been defeated but rather has earned an opportunity to graciously secure her spot as a leader in her party and to play a vital role to ensure the issues she passionately cares about be realized.

For many the decision as we stood in voting booths across this country was a tough one to make. For me as a woman, not to mention a Wellesley alumn, my first opportunity to support a woman for President, an extraordinarily capable and gifted woman who has devoted her life to public service and the cause of children, was a long overdue moment. A moment that became a dilemma. I chose to support but not to vote for Hillary, that was hard. Barack Obama "had me at Hello" four years ago at John Kerry's nominating convention. I grabbed the phone and called a friend and said "you have to watch this guy...he is amazing and he is going to be President, he has to be President". In a time of enormous pain and disillusionment, this man, this skinny guy with the funny name, is building a new boat on which this country can sail.

There will be those who belong to a time, a time that we need to study and learn from, that will not vote for an African American. One can only hope that they will listen. Listen to the voices of America today and realize that we have never been in more pain as a nation, and hear that it will take a voice that sees the challenges and remains hopeful anyway to find a path to change. That path cannot be forged from old bricks.

I love and respect history. I even respect John McCain's history. At this place in time,however,we can learn from history but we cannot repeat history , nor can we do what we have always done..it simply does not work. Throwing old solutions at a new world, a world that looks with anger not awe, a world that challenges not follows, is a mistake we cannot make.

Yes this is an historic night, an historic time, but this nation needs to be led by new strength and new eyes that see where we have come but will not look back and will not carry the old trunks on the new journey. Barack Obama is an historic candidate without a doubt, but we are voting for a leader not an icon. He will carry the burden of being the "first" but just maybe he will be the "first" to get it right.

Barack Obama will be nominated 45 years to the day that Dr. Martin Luther King gave his best known speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial...

This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. Martin Luther King Aug 28, 1963