Michelle Obama as President: Black America Can Dream, Can’t We?

In a campaign video released Thursday, First Lady Michelle Obama sparked excitement in many supporters by stating that it was inevitable that a woman would soon be President of the United States.

Though she didn’t say it would be her, and she has emphatically denied any interest in politics outside of her husband’s aspirations, the opinion by many is that she would be a better POTUS than Barack Obama. It’s not that she’s shown any of the sly diplomacy and political machinations of  the president when dealing with his adoring public, bitter rivals or foreign counter-parts. Nor is it that she necessarily has the skill set to be president — though many would argue, including me, that her business, education and legal, “experience,” the buzz-word from the 2008 campaign, is more than a match for her husband’s own short stint in the senate.

Many people prefer the Mrs. because she has guts. As a mother, activist and wife, our dynamic first lady has proven that she’s not afraid to speak her mind and be damned who doesn’t like it.

While Barack, as he likes to be called, was busy smiling and bridging the “racial gap” even as Hillary Clinton was destroying him in the polls, Michelle was keeping it 100% on Morning Joe, saying that would all change because “Black people will wake up.” She wasn’t pandering to white fear of a black take over. She confidently talked about ‘the fear of possibility” and the legacy of racism, discrimination and oppression that led some black Americans do believe that ” someone else is always better.”

When her husband was still holding on to the philosophy that “there aren’t red states and blue states, it’s the United States,” Michelle was standing tall and saying that “this is the first time in my adult life that I’m proud of my country.”

Most importantly for some, she’s a powerhouse who wears her Blackness like a badge of honor, while her husband at times seems to mistake colorblindness for diversity. Michelle Obama has become Black America’s first Black president by proxy because she allows us to identify with her in a way that President Obama does not.

Does that mean that she would remain as accessible as the HNIC of Pennsylvania Avenue? Or would we see the same shift towards conformity that we saw in President Obama when he realized that a smile and a catchphrase only gets you so far? This is not to say that he has done anything out of the scope of other politicians before him; it simply means that with Obama, we got red, white and blue — while many were expecting black.

That same change would have to occur in Michelle Obama in order for her to even come close to winning a presidential election in this country…but for many, there’s always “hope.”

Weigh in, Clutchettes: Do you believe that the first lady would be just as good or a better president than her husband?