Michelle Obama on Vogue cover. Running for something?
Michelle Obama is on the cover of the new issue of Vogue looking very much like an icon of American fashion. She鈥檚 sporting her new bangs and a cerulean sheath next to a vase of cherry blossoms that are just beginning to open. Vogue writer Jonathan Van Meter interviewed both her and President Obama, but it鈥檚 Mrs. Obama who鈥檚 the focus here. She dominates the word count of the , and the cover readout is, 鈥淗ow the first lady and the president are inspiring America.鈥�
Is she running for something? Hillary-Michelle (or Michelle-Hillary?) 2016!
OK, it hasn鈥檛 escaped our attention that 鈥淗illary-Michelle鈥� has been a hot search term this week. There鈥檚 no real reason why that鈥檚 so, in the sense that there isn鈥檛 a speck of news on this front. The whole notion of Hillary Rodham Clinton teaming up with Mrs. Obama in a journalists鈥� dream team seems driven by speculation, idle and otherwise.
But what struck us about the Vogue piece was the degree to which it promoted the first lady and examined the nature of first couplehood.
Yes, it鈥檚 a fashion magazine: None of its readers want to see those old photos of the president in dad jeans or read about why the United States is hesitant to help Syrian rebels. Instead, the article inside frames the Obamas not as the first African-American first family, but as a symbol of today鈥檚 highly involved parenting style 鈥� a husband and wife who focus after-work energy on their kids and think about how they complement each other鈥檚 personalities.
They鈥檙e helicopters parents with a Marine helicopter, in Mr. Van Meter鈥檚 telling.
鈥淭hey are ... exemplars of a new paradigm 鈥� the super-involved parenting team for whom being equally engaged in the minutiae of their children鈥檚 lives is paramount,鈥� .
The thing we find interesting about this is the generational question it raises.
In the piece, the Obamas talk about the old Washington they鈥檙e not part of, the Georgetown dinner-party/Kennedy Center box/Middleburg weekend crowd. Actually, they talk about not being part of it because it no longer exists.
Congressional families don鈥檛 live in Washington anymore: Lawmakers face tremendous pressure to scurry back to districts and home states on weekends. Also, the president and top leaders of the other party don鈥檛 socialize because the city鈥檚 too partisan.
And then there's the broader reason: They also don鈥檛 socialize because parents in modern families don鈥檛 have time for that.
鈥淭he culture in Washington has changed in ways that probably haven鈥檛 been great for the way this place runs,鈥� Mr. Obama says at one point.
As anyone who鈥檚 watched today鈥檚 sitcoms knows, the center of the modern family is the mom. The dad may be president, but he鈥檚 probably still a bumbler at heart. Thus the first lady notes that the small apartment her husband rented when he was a US senator once caught on fire.
And from the press handlers assembled to watch the interview when she notes that the leader of what used to be called the free world is the sort of guy 鈥渨ho still boasts about, 鈥楾his khaki pair of pants I鈥檝e had since I was 20.鈥� 鈥�
That鈥檚 what we mean when we say the piece almost seems to be pushing Mrs. Obama for something. What it does is place her at the emotional heart of the Obama presidency 鈥� in a way that even Jacqueline Kennedy, despite the huge amount of coverage she got, never was.
