Michelle Obama: Overcoming Fear
Barack Obama's Wife Shares Her Vision of the American Dream
Michelle Obama speaks frankly about transcending fear and why she thinks her husband should be the next president of the United States of America.
Michelle Obama, wife of presidential hopeful Barack Obama, believes that America can move beyond the fear instilled in the public in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
When she addressed an audience of her husband's supporters in western Iowa, she delivered a heartfelt message to the crowd: "We have a chance to make something real happen: to live beyond fear."
It is her vision of a life beyond fear that has made countless American voters bond with the woman who Senator Barack Obama calls "my rock". A graduate of Princeton and Harvard, Michelle Obama is not known to mince words. She is outspoken about her views on US politics. Her opposition to the Iraq war is equal to her husband's.
"I am so tired of fear and I don’t want my girls to live in a country, in a world based on fear." she said at a rally, "That is why, and we have to admit it, we are in this war."
If her husband wins the Democratic nomination, he will face Senator John McCain in the general election. There, Mr.Obama's call to pull combat troops out of Iraq within the nest two years will be tested by a decorated war hero who believes in towing the line of the incumbent, George W. Bush, and staying the course in Iraq indefinitely.
A reluctant participant
Mrs.Obama admits she was initially hesitant to play an active role in her husband's White House bid because she was concerned it might interfere with her other duties. However, it was her observation of fear had permiating ever aspect of American life over the last decade that catalyzed her desire to speak on Senator Obama's behalf.
"The reason why I said yes is because I am tired of being afraid. I am tired of living in a country where every decision that we’ve made over the last ten years wasn’t for something but it was because people told us that we had to fear something," she explained, "We had to fear people who looked different from us. Fear people who believed in things that were different from us. Fear of one another right here in our own backyards."
Her desire to transcend fear in her own life was evident when she was asked by Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes if she was fearful for her husband’s safety. She responded, “I don’t lose sleep over it because the realities are that, you know, as a Black man Barack can get shot going to the gas station. You can’t make decisions based on fear.”
Redefining post 9/11 American politics
The political climate after the September 11th attacks left an indellible impression on Michelle Obama, one she came to realise she shared with Americans across the country.
"As more people talked to us about it, the question came up again and again [that] what people were most concerned about [was that] they were afraid." she remarked,"Fear again raising its ugly head in one of the most important decisions we would make!"
Mrs.Obama holds that this condition is what led American statesmen to enable the current administration to wage a pre-emptive war that many believe challenged the rule of law and state sovreignity. She spoke of an absence of leadership and clear judgment and she feels that Senator Obama defined himself in this moment.
"We are in this war because for eight years we were told to be afraid. And everybody followed suit. Everybody cut and run because it was very unpopular not to be afraid; to talk about hope and possibility," she explained, "But you know what? There is my husband, who at the time when many people in political life were moving towards fear he sat on the stage of this anti-war rally at a time when it wasn’t convenient for him to [be] a different, unconventional voice."
Mrs.Obama's message to voters is simple," Please don’t base your vote this time on fear. Base it on possibility. Think. Listen. The game of politics is to make you afraid so that you don’t think."
Whatever the outcome of the 2008 campaign for Democratic nomation, one thing is for certain: the Obamas have forever altered the face of U.S. politics and touched the very core of the expectations of the American people. Their elloquence and their vision, often moves even he most ardent supporters of Hillary Clinton, like author James Wolcott , who couldn't help but comment, "Michelle Obama should make one hell of a First Lady."
Sources
- Michelle Obama: Be Not Afraid
- Michelle Obama Takes a Shot at Hillary Clinton
- Michelle Obama on her husband’s security
- Meet Michelle Obama
- President Clinton announces another record budget surplus
- James Wolcott's Blog
