Unlike many responders here, I do believe in the potential for sudden insight, coming unexpectedly upon one insignificant event, after constant observation. Zen practitioners, I believe, would call it “Satori.”
Certainly, Barack and Michelle are an odd couple. Bill and Hillary Clinton are each one half a whole political animal, while George and Laura both seemed to share a world-view that has its roots in West Texas.
I can’t say if Michelle is a “mother” to Obama, but she does represent Obama’s attempt to find his “blackness” - which is why he went to Chicago in the first place after his time spent at Ivy Leagues. She’s South-side Chicago, friend and neighbor to Jesse Jackson, solid blue-collar family life. What a perfect trophy wife she is for a ethnically confused, elitist, community organizer and aspiring politician seeking to define his minority roots.
Agree.
You said it very well.