Michelle Remember Loose Lips Sink Ships - Be wary of too much joking around

Michelle Obama Spills Barack's Personal Secrets
By Yoji Cole



© DiversityInc 2007 ®


Michelle Obama is airing her husband's dirty laundry in public, almost literally.



During speeches where Michelle Obama introduces her husband, Barack, who is the junior senator from Illinois and one of the most popular Democratic presidential candidates, she regularly peppers her speech with zingers aimed at Barack. (See also: Who Is Michelle Obama?)



"Today, he still didn't put the butter up after he made his breakfast. I was like, 'You're just asking for it, you know I'm giving a speech. Why don't you just put the butter up?'" she told a roaring crowd at a recent Chicago fundraiser for women backing Barack's campaign.



Beyond the butter, Michelle has revealed to crowds throughout the nation that her husband doesn't put his worn socks in with the dirty clothes and that he's worse than their 5-year-old daughter at making the bed.



While much of Michelle's comedic material centers on her husband's domestic foibles, she also targets his fame. At a March fundraiser in New York where they both appeared, she told the crowd how she sometimes wished she lived with "Barack Obama the phenomenon."



Now there could be concern that Michelle's shtick turns off voters. Some people could feel Barack is irresponsible at home, not supportive enough, or that Michelle emasculates him, shooting holes into his masculine image.



But experts on marketing and politics say it's more likely that Michelle's jokes work to humanize Barack, who in a short time has become a rock-star politician.



Michelle's public teasing of Barack has worked to humanize him as his popularity skyrockets with the American public. DePaul University marketing professor Bruce Newman, who has written several books on political marketing, sees the teasing as appealing to professional women who might otherwise vote for Clinton.



By joking about his domestic faux pas, Michelle is showing her mettle as a woman who doesn't kowtow to her husband but keeps him firmly grounded, Newman told The Associated Press.



Obama's presidential camp reports that Michelle's tactics are not politically motivated at all but are examples of her wit and charm. A political campaign is a popularity contest, and convincing voters that candidates are likable is part of the program. Showing off their personal side is part of that, F. Christopher Arterton, dean of George Washington University's graduate school of political management, told The Associated Press. "Voters want to feel that they know and like a person who's a presidential candidate and that he's a kind of regular guy," Arterton said.



For his part, Barack always plays into the ribbing, which is always tempered by great praise for him.



"I hate following my wife," Barack said when he took the stage at the March event. "It is true my wife is smarter, better looking. She's a little meaner than I am."