Yes, it is embarrassing, but I am going to say it, anyway: How glorious to have a president I can not only stand to see on television, but would have watched over Desperate Housewives, had it come to that. I kept trying to think of the last time such a thing had occurred—is it time yet? the president's going to be on!—but the answer is: never. ...

No doubt Hillary Clinton could fill Condi's high-heel boots and still have time left over to advise Michelle on what not to do as first lady. (Remember when Rice took the job almost four years ago and described her mission as building on the foreign policy achievements of the previous four? Quick work, when you think about it; wonder what she ...

Oprah cried, Jesse Jackson cried, and John Lewis said he had no tears left. Our next first lady whispered, ''I love you'' to her husband, who didn't seem to want to let her go even when it was time to leave the stage. Michelle Obama's mom, Marion Robinson, was kvelling for all of them. And our next president was appropriately sober; bringing us ...

In an op-ed in the Guardian this morning, Jessica Valenti, founder of the blog Feministing and author of the book Full Frontal Feminism, discusses what she believes has been the media's unfair treatment of Michelle Obama, wife of Barack. Valenti writes, ''Media coverage of [Michelle] Obama has packed a nasty racism-sexism combo that is quickly ...

Barack Obama has always acted suspicious of his own popularity, as though he suspects that the ability to inspire adolescent worship is not, shall we say, presidential. He has a special word for the way he feels about himself when he sees thousands of otherwise dignified adults melting in real time: imperfect. “Ultimately I am an imperfect vessel ...

Political consultants are always yammering about what a good idea it is to get the most damaging information out in the open ASAP, and on the candidate's own terms. Which is why I suspect Michelle Obama of cannily revealing that secret terrorist handshake in literally the very first moment it was safe to do so, on the very night her hubby ...

The presidential campaign—well, one in particular—has introduced a new greeting to the political world: the fist pound (also known as dap). Last night, we saw perhaps the most high-profile pound of all time, as Michelle and Barack Obama bumped fists on national television before he took the stage. (Video here.) What’s hilarious is watching the ...

I am so ready to read the long magazine take-out story (Hanna?) about Obama and his church and its pastor: What Trinity United Church of Christ and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright mean to Chicago, what it means that Obama and his family joined this church and stayed there, etc. I feel like I'm missing the context that helps me make sense of the ...

When I heard what Michelle Obama said, I thought uh-oh, classic DiKinsleyan gaffe: She said something true but unflattering, and thus a total no-no for someone in her position; that's why they call it impolitic. I also assumed she was talking about race, though that might be a total projection, because when I say I've never been prouder of my ...

One running sub-myth of the Clinton/Obama saga is that Obama is outnumbered. Hillary has Bill and Chelsea, the thinking goes, which gives her an edge on the campaign trail. She even had them touring as full surrogates in South Carolina. One of the campaign’s tensest moments came at the Myrtle Beach debate in January, when Obama snapped, “I can't ...