Former first lady Michelle Obama says America is not ready for a female president. In a series of recent interviews promoting her new book, Obama points to the losses of Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton as evidence of what she regards as sexism.
Recall that similar things were once said about John F. Kennedy, that America was not ready for a Catholic president. More recently some said America wasn’t ready for a Black president. And yet in 2008, 43% of white voters voted for Barack Obama. In 2012, it was 39%.
Michelle Obama continues the focus on identity politics, rather than ideas and policies. Harris lost not because she is a woman, but because some thought she could not articulate what she believed in a language they could understand. Clinton lost because some found her “unlikable.”
Michelle Obama is from a middle-class background anyone might find admirable, even enviable. She grew up in a two-parent home. A Google search notes that “After excelling in public schools, she earned a sociology and African-American studies degree from Princeton University and a law degree from Harvard Law School. She then became a lawyer in Chicago, where she met her future husband, Barack Obama, before dedicating her career to public service.”
One might think with such a resume she would be praising a nation that gave her the opportunity to rise to such a high level. Instead, recall her comment after her husband was elected president: “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction.”