Michelle Obama to jump in race for president?

By Bob Unruh

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Could the 2016 race for the Oval Office get any crazier?

On the GOP side, there’s a long list of experienced politicians with long lists of accomplishments to their names seeking the presidency – senior governors, senators and statesmen – and they’re all trailing Donald Trump, a shoot-from-the-hip billionaire with a knack for saying what many people across the country are feeling.

And on the Democrat side, there’s surging support for a self-avowed socialist who is challenging Hillary Clinton, who thought she was the anointed candidate in 2008, only to be knocked off her pedestal by upstart Barack Obama. She considers herself anointed now, but finds her support fading quickly.

So how about the gauntlet being thrown down by … Michelle Obama?

There already are some commenting on the idea.

WND commentator Star Parker told WND she was at a book signing in Washington this week and was asked about the possibility.

She admitted she’s watching that possible development closely.

“I’ve even seen bumper stickers that say Michelle 2016,” Parker told WND. “Until the primaries are absolutely closed, my eye is on Michelle.”

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She suggested there’s a behind-the-scenes move developing that is turning her into a cause celebre.

Washington columnist Edward Klein has reported that Michelle Obama’s plans after her husband’s presidency are big – and they don’t necessarily include her husband.

“For a while, the first lady played with the idea of running for the Illinois Senate seat now occupied by Republican Mark Kirk, who was hobbled by a 2012 stroke and recently fell during a vote on the Senate floor. But she has since all but dismissed this idea,” he reported.

(It was from an Illinois Senate seat that Barack Obama launched his successful bid for the Oval Office.)

But while describing how Michelle Obama “envisions” a future alongside “best friend and confidant Valerie Jarrett,” he said she also “doesn’t want to step down from that luxurious Air Force One lifestyle.”

A May Rasmussen poll found, if Michelle decided to run for president, she’d pose the most significant threat to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton than any other Democratic Party contender.

What do YOU think? Sound off on the rumor Michelle Obama may run for president

On April 30, Michelle joked about running for the White House when she was a guest on “The Late Show with David Letterman” (6:00 mark).

“I’m retiring in a few weeks,” Letterman said.

“No kidding,” Michelle responded.

“And I know that your time at the White House, in a couple years, same sort of thing,” Lettterman said. “You won’t be retiring, though. But do you ever glimpse that far down the road?”

Michelle replied, “What, like when I’m going to be running for president or anything?”

“Something to consider,” Letterman said.

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In his book, “Blood Feud,” Ed Klein claims Michelle and Jarrett nicknamed Hillary “Hildebeest.” In a June 21, 2014, article for the New York Post, Klein wrote about an exchange between President Obama and former President Bill Clinton:

During the golf game, Clinton didn’t waste any time reminding Obama that as president, he had presided over eight years of prosperity, while Obama had been unable to dig the country out of the longest financial ­doldrums since the Great Depression.

“Bill got into it right away,” said a Clinton family friend. “He told Obama, ‘Hillary and I are gearing up for a run in 2016.’ He said Hillary would be ‘the most qualified, most experienced candidate, perhaps in history.’ His reference to Hillary’s experience made Obama wince, since it was clearly a shot at his lack of experience when he ran for president.

“And so Bill continued to talk about Hillary’s qualifications … and the coming campaign in 2016. But Barack didn’t bite. He changed the subject several times. Then suddenly, Barack said something that took Bill by complete surprise. He said, ‘You know, Michelle would make a great presidential candidate, too.’

“Bill was speechless. Was Barack comparing Michelle’s qualifications to Hillary’s? Bill said that if he hadn’t been on a mission to strike a deal with Barack, he might have stormed off the golf course then and there.”

In March, MSNBC host Alex Wagner discussed Hillary’s continuing email scandal on her show. Panelist Adam Rapoport expressed little confidence in Hillary’s run, asking: “Who else do we have?”

Columbia University professor Dorian Warren chimed in: “I want to start a whisper campaign on your show right now. I think we should draft Michelle Obama to run.”

He continued, “Let’s draft the first lady right now. She is equally as talented and smart as her husband. I think she would make a great president.”

However, back in 2013, Michelle told Parade Magazine that she had no plans to run.

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But at the MrConservative blog was more speculation: “Rumors are heating up that Michelle Obama will edge out Hillary Clinton for the Democrat nomination for president in the upcoming 2016 race for the White House. How’s that for scary, eh?”

The column continued, “Rumors have been making the rounds that Barack expects to push his wife into the spotlight in order to finally destroy the Clinton machine and put himself 100 percent in charge of the American far left and its power base, the Democrat Party.”

It follows speculation over the Obama years that he really doesn’t want to give up power.

“Note that President Obama has built an entire campaign edifice that has not turned its resources over to the Democrat Party,” the column suggested. “Obama’s Organizing for Action (which used to be Obama for America) is still in full operation and is used solely to raise money for Obama and his personal causes as well as for pushing his own political message. This billion dollar organizing machine has not turned its gigantic email list over to the Democrat Party nor has it lent is vast online capabilities to the Democrat Party.”

A Michelle Obama campaign for 2016 would allow to continue “the destruction of America,” the column said, “along Barack’s ideological basis with eight years of a ‘historic’ first black, female president.”

WND had reported in 2013 there were comments about a Hillary Clinton-Michelle Obama “dream ticket” in 2016.

“All due respect for President Obama and Vice President Biden, but that would truly be a dream team for America,” former Clinton spokeswoman Karen Finney said at the time, shortly after the 2012 results, according to the Washington Examiner.

“Both women are proven effective leaders who’ve raise children, so dealing with Congress would be a snap!”

Democratic strategist Chris Lehane told the paper then, “More than anything else, this reflects the growing awareness that it is time for the glass ceiling of the last old boys club to be firmly shattered.”

There already were bumper stickers in the marketplace with messages such as “2016-Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama,” and “Hillary-Michelle 2016 First First Lady Ticket For President.”

See one here:
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But as WND reported in 2009, an online poll by CNN had viewers overwhelmingly saying Michelle Obama should never run for president.

The question specifically asked: “Should Michelle Obama run for president in 2020?”

With 200,000 votes tallied in the unscientific poll, 83 percent of respondents answered no, with a ratio of over 165,000 against the idea to only 35,000 in favor.

Talk-radio giant Rush Limbaugh also said, when asked in 2013 about the prospect of a Michelle Obama campaign, he didn’t think it would happen.

“I don’t think that Mrs. Obama wants the job. I don’t think that’s in the cards,” he said. “I could be wrong.”

He said the Obamas probably both think the job is “beneath them.”

“They want the world,” Limbaugh explained. “When Barack finishes this, it’s on to the United Nations, or whatever new organization they come up with.”

Although, he did note, Michelle Obama, “would be immune to criticism.”

“Imagine the first black female president. Anything can happen.”

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Bob Unruh

Bob Unruh joined WND in 2006 after nearly three decades with the Associated Press, as well as several Upper Midwest newspapers, where he covered everything from legislative battles and sports to tornadoes and homicidal survivalists. He is also a photographer whose scenic work has been used commercially. Read more of Bob Unruh's articles here.


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