Michelle Obama on Barack's "Experience" Walking the Streets of Chicago

White Sox fans "walking the streets of the south side of Chicago" at the 1919 World Series



Add Michelle Obama to the list of problems that her husband has to overcome in his quest for the presidency. The would-be future first lady is cementing her reputation as an angry woman with a chip on her shoulder. Like Teresa Heinz Kerry before her, Mrs Obama is becoming a weight on her husband's aspirations. Her stump speech of last Friday is a case in point.

According to Mrs Obama, Barack's experience as a "community organizer" in Chicago before entering politics is experience that no other candidate can match. Leave aside for the moment what exactly a "community organizer" is, according to Mrs Obama, it must be something really special.

In describing what the senator did, she tells us that:

For years, he walked the streets of the south side of Chicago.
He bussed women to City Hall so that they could "find their voices".
In all those years, "we have seen it all. Barack has seen it all."
No other candidate had made that "kind of choice" or had that kind of experience.

Pretty vague stuff. "Walk the streets", "find their voices", "seen it all".

I would like to point out to Mrs Obama that there is another candidate who can match that "impressive" resume. What did John McCain do before he entered politics? True, he was never a "community organizer". What he did was join the Navy, become a bomber pilot, survive a massive explosion on his aircraft carrier, fly bombing missions in Viet Nam, get shot down, spend 5 years in a North Vietnamese prison camp and suffer torture in the process. Add to all that his many years as a US Senator.(Of course in the world of the Obamas, serving in the military doesn't count for much on a resume; it was a choice that Barack never made.)

But McCain was never a "community organizer". Unlike Barack Obama, he has never "seen it all". He has never "walked the streets of the south side of Chicago".

So what exactly is a "community organizer"? Someone who organizes communities? What specifically did he do? He may have done a lot of good things, but to me, this is just another example of how thin this man's resume is for one who is running for the presidency.

Let's look at Obama's political record. What is he remembered for as a state senator in Illinois? What did he accomplish? How about his 2 year record as a US Senator- what has he accomplished legislatively? Don't tell me what he has voted for. What has he himself accomplished except start running for president virtually the day he arrived in Washington.

This is the dilemma whenever you ask Obama supporters to come up with one accomplishment that would qualify him to be president. They start talking about his gift of oratory, his charm, his talk of bringing people together, change, hope, etc. What they cannot do is tell you one thing that he has really accomplished in his political career beyond making great speeches and getting elected a couple of times.

But for Mrs Obama to put her foot in her mouth and imply that John McCain cannot match her husband's life story is patently absurd. It fits right in with her previous whining about how bad things are in this country for everyday folks. She and her husband have been blessed by what this country has offered them. They both have Ivy League educations and high-paying jobs that enable their family to live well. Indeed, they may wind up in the White House.

Mrs Obama should get off the negativity and stop exaggerating her husband's years as a "community organizer".