First Lady says politics is tough, even for Obama girls

Michelle Obama said her daughters had learned to be thick-skinned in an election year.

|
ABC
First Lady Michelle Obama on ABC's The View Tuesday morning.

Michelle Obama says her daughters are learning that even the kids of politicians have to have a thick skin.

"Politics is tough," the first lady said Tuesday. "That's just sort of the nature of the beast."

But she said daughters Sasha and Malia, at ages 10 and 13, also know that no matter what happens in the November election, "their life is good either way."

Mrs. Obama chatted about family life, this year's re-election campaign and what's not ahead for her — a career in politics — during a round of interviews promoting the release of her new book on the White House garden.

As for the personal attacks that swirl around her husband in a campaign year, the first lady said: "You just sort of have to have a thick skin in this thing. And your kids do too."

Malia and Sasha "understand that their world is secure no matter what," Mrs. Obama said on ABC's "The View." ''They've grown to understand that home is wherever we are. ... And Dad is always going to be Dad. So they're good."

The first lady left no doubt on the question of a political future of her own.

"Those are other people's rumors," she said. "I have no interest in politics. Never have. Never will."

She added: "The one thing that is certain: I will serve. I will serve in some capacity."

Mrs. Obama said her work to support military families "is a forever proposition. They will always need a voice out there."

Later, with Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show," Mrs. Obama talked about the virtues of fresh veggies and wouldn't bite at a Stewart suggestion that she use her higher poll ratings as a weapon in any argument with her husband.

"I don't wield it over him," she said. "One of the things I've seen over the last 3 1/2 years, I've seen what it takes to be president. I kind of watch this thing pretty closely. You know, the president is getting all the hard decisions, where there is no easy answer."

During her media tour the first lady offered other tidbits about the Obama family, and her efforts to promote healthy eating and exercise:

—The president isn't much of a griller-in-chief. "He doesn't mind grilling, but I was the griller in our household. ... I love to grill anything," she said in an interview airing Thursday on "Rachael Ray."

—She doesn't have to worry about deer or other animals nibbling on plants in the White House garden, thanks to "a big fence and men with guns," she said on "The View." There were some pesky birds to contend with, however.

—Her effort to fight childhood obesity "isn't about government telling people what to do," she told ABC's "Good Morning America." It's designed to give families information, support and resources to find their own solutions.

The first lady's gardening book, released Tuesday by Crown Publishers, is "American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America."

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to First Lady says politics is tough, even for Obama girls
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0529/First-Lady-says-politics-is-tough-even-for-Obama-girls
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe