Obama says conservative press is hard on Michelle

Barack Obama figures that as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, a little media mud-slinging comes with the territory.

But, as he said this week in an interview with Glamour magazine, he wishes the press would lay off his wife, Michelle.

Obama complained that “the conservative press” -- including Fox News and the National Review -- has been too critical of Michelle.

He said he thinks reporters from those organizations “went fairly deliberately at her in a pretty systematic way” and “treated her as the candidate in a way that you just rarely see the Democrats try to do against Republicans.”

Obama would probably get a real argument about that from some GOP spouses. And his wife has played a major role in Obama’s quest for the White House, appearing on his behalf on the campaign trail.

She came under heavy fire in February when she said in a speech that she was proud of her country for the first time in her adult life. She later clarified her remark, saying she has always been proud of her country, but the incident made its mark on Obama’s campaign.

Obama called the criticism ironic and said his wife is “the most quintessentially American woman I know.”

“She grew up in a ‘Leave It to Beaver’ family,” he said.

Obama suggested that both candidates’ spouses be off limits for the remainder of the campaign. “They didn’t sign up for this,” he said.

-- Kate Linthicum