“There are some who think it will be harder for America to accept a black first lady – the national hostess who serenely presides over the White House Christmas festivities and the Easter egg roll – than a black president,” columnist Maureen Dowd wrote. She noted that there already are creepy Web sites “dedicated to painting Michelle as a female version of Jeremiah Wright, an angry black woman, the disgruntled, lecturing ‘Mrs. Grievance’ depicted on the cover of National Review.”
But Dowd points out that Michelle Obama is “a devoted daughter, wife and mother who has lived the American dream, from the humble South Side of Chicago to Harvard Law School. . . . And as one Obama booster enthuses: ‘Michelle’s story is a lot more mainstream American than Cindy McCain inheriting a brewery.’”
Still, it will be up to Michelle Obama whether these tactics stick or backfire. She’ll have plenty of opportunities in coming months to either silence and shame the attack dogs with her poise and intelligence or give them new material.
