ANALYSIS: Michelle Obama for President

Would Michelle Obama run for President?

It’s been a recent topic of conversation among some black Democrats in Washington, D.C. ever since Samuel L. Jackson put it out there.

“Michelle is Superwoman. What can’t she do?” Jackson told Newsweek. “That’s why people love her. She can be on the Supreme Court and anywhere else she wants. She can be the president. She’s history and she’ll stay history because she is so amazingly smart and together.”

Jackson, the outspoken Hollywood actor, apparently has never heard of an issue that he couldn’t comment, on so why should politics be any different?

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But he’s right. Americans love Michelle Obama –and she is one of the most popular first lady’s in history. According to a Gallup poll, 66 percent of Americans have a favorable view of Michelle Obama, which is unchanged from nearly two years ago. And here’s an interesting fact: Michelle Obama’s approval ratings are higher than the ratings of President Barack Obama, which is why she was the president’s most effective surrogate in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.

And since the First Lady launched her successful Let’s Move! campaign to solve the problem of childhood obesity within a generation, Michelle Obama has become a national leader – and one of the most astute politicians in modern memory.

Some leading black congressional leaders think Michelle Obama should consider running for an elected office.

“I’d love to see her get more into politics because it would be a breath of fresh air in D.C.,” Democratic Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina told reporters. “She’s honest and straightforward, which is not what you see in Washington much. She is exactly what we need around here.”

Many African Americans on Capitol Hill are in awe of Michelle Obama – and for good reason. The First Lady is often referred to as a modern-day Eleanor Roosevelt who became a leading advocate for civil rights in America and was the most politically-active first lady of her generation.

Michelle Obama is following in Roosevelt’s footsteps and one longtime Democrat pointed to a rousing speech that Obama gave this summer during the thick of the presidential campaign.

“Much like they did 50 years ago, or 150 years ago, our laws still shape so many aspects of our lives: Whether folks are paying their fair share of taxes, or not; whether we invest in roads and schools, and the jobs that come with them, or not; whether our sons and our daughters who wear our country’s uniform get the support and benefits they’ve earned, or not,” the First Lady told a crowd of 10,000 AME members at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

“You see, those decisions are made by the folks sitting in Congress and in our White House,” Obama added. “They’re made by the folks in our state legislatures and city halls.  And we all know who’s supposed to select those folks, don’t we?  We know who’s supposed to tell those folks what to do, right? We are. That’s our job. That is our most fundamental right and our most solemn obligation –- to cast our ballots and have our say in the laws that shape our lives.”

For some black Democrats, Obama’s speech sounded a lot like a politician – and a very good one. Some folks have speculated that a Michelle Obama candidacy is not far-fetched at all since Hillary Clinton, a former first lady herself, was elected to the  U.S. Senate, ran for president and became Secretary of State.

But for now, the Michelle Obama-for-president crusade is just office water-cooler talk.

“Nothing she’s done indicates she wants more power on the national or international front,” Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, told reporters. “Yet everyone else says she has to have it.”

In the meantime, Michelle Obama put the rumors to rest saying she’s not thinking about a political career.

“I’m just looking ahead to getting Barack back in office and continuing the work he’s been doing,” she said in October on the set of Jimmy Kimmel Live! “Supporting him is my focus.”

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