Opinion: The Cleaverization of Michelle Obama

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Michelle Obama is rightly being praised for her charming speech Monday night to the Democratic National Convention. If anyone -- say, low-IQ New Yorker readers -- thought she was a radical, her self-portrait should have disabused them of that thought. As one commentator put it: ‘Michelle Obama’s speech reflected great nobility. She presented herself as a loving wife and mom, and she presented herself as being in sync with the values of most Americans.’ In other words, she was June Cleaver, mother of the Beaver.

Fair enough, but she also is a lawyer with the same blue-chip education boasted by her husband. Apparently, campaign tacticians decided that she should de-emphasize that aspect of her persona, much as Hillary Rodham did when she belatedly took the Clinton surname.

Speaking of radical, here’s a suggestion that will never be adopted: Make party conventions and other political events off-limits to spouses, parents, children, siblings, high school coaches and pets. The practice of politicians proving that they are family men (or women), which was satirized as early as 1956 in the great political novel ‘The Last Hurrah,’ isn’t just cheesy. As Larry Craig, Elliot Spitzer and John Edwards can attest, it also can set you up for a fall big-time (as Dick Cheney would say).

But Americans will never give up on the family portrait as a political symbol. The other day a poll was released showing that a majority of Americans would be willing to vote for a gay or lesbian candidate for president. I suppose that means that in the future, life partners of nominees will be coached to portray themselves as ‘being in sync with the values of most Americans.’