I find almost all criticism of Michelle Obama suspect. The politics of politics is hard. Because she is so smart, she knows that you if you lead with honesty there is nowhere to go but up. So now we've got smart and honest. The Maureen Dowd column that testily took Michelle to task was a bit coy for me. I must say when Maureen in another column began to describe Senator Obama's slender fingers and lanky frame, I wondered if a male reporter had made the same observations about Michelle, what would have been the reaction?

We have two highly competent people married to one another. She expects nothing less than the best from her husband. Which means when he shows up asking for our vote, he's already been vetted by Michelle...and we know her standards!.

What if Bill called Hillary "stinky and snore-y"? Why do I have the feeling that you would object...

I suppose one thing you might say is that we already know that the Clinton's marriage isn't perfect, so we don't need to be reminded in that instance. But why do we need to be reminded in any instance? (I have heard speculation that Michelle is trying to warn us, in code, that Barack is [or has been] a womanizer, and that this is her way of laying the groundwork for the damage control when one of his opponents digs something unseemly up from his past.)

My problem with Michelle is similar to the problem that I had with Teresa Heinz Kerry (and that I didn't have with Hillary when she was campaigning for her husband). It's not that they're smart - it's that 1) I'm not convinced either woman would have voted for their husbands if they weren't married to them, and 2) when the spotlight turns on them, they really seem to think it's because people are interested in them for reasons other than who they're married to. Hillary never made that mistake, and she's not exactly a doormat. Bill is working very hard to take the focus off himself and onto Hillary. Elizabeth Edwards, another strong, smart woman who could be forgiven for taking more of a public stance than she has, also seems focused on the matter at hand, which is electing her husband. Tipper Gore has a lot going on upstairs, but she never felt it necessary to belittle her husband.

I think you misread Dowd's column. I think she really wanted to support Obama, and was afraid that Michelle was hurting his campaign, and I am proof that she was.

"I have heard speculation that Michelle is trying to warn us, in code, that Barack is [or has been] a womanizer, and that this is her way of laying the groundwork for the damage control when one of his opponents digs something unseemly up from his past.)"

Your cranking of the rumor mill would make Karl Rove proud.

Excuse me. You are proof that Dowd was warning America about Obama?

No you are proof only that you want to spin a good marraige into something sinister. Perhaps thats why the divorce rate and adultry rate is so high within the leading ranks of the Republican party.

Your post sounds as if it could be a direct quote from Rush Limbaugh.