Posted on 09/12/2008 7:23:00 AM PDT by Mike Bates
On ABC News's Political Punch blog, senior national correspondent Jake Tapper writes "Why Wasn't Michelle Obama at the 9/11 Ceremony?"
Some readers have asked me why it was that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was without spouse at the 9/11 commemoration ceremony today in New York City.
After all, they point out, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was accompanied by his wife Cindy.
Where was Michelle?
The Obama campaign responds that Michelle was back in Chicago with her daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, since this is the first week of school.
The McCain kids, incidentally, have all graduated from high school (some long ago) with the exception of Bridget, who's 16.
CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer questioned White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux about Michelle Obama's whereabouts on CNN's Situation Room today:
BLITZER: Do we know why -- why Michelle Obama decided not to come, or has the Obama campaign explained that?
MALVEAUX: Wolf, they haven't actually explained that. And since -- since we have seen these pictures, I have e-mailed two people from the Obama campaign to see if we can get an answer to that question, whether or not she was with the daughters, taking care of something else at the time, and why it is that she wasn't able to make it today.
Later, Malveaux had the explanation:
MALVEAUX: Well, Michelle Obama was in Chicago. It was the first week of school for their young daughters, Sasha and Malia. So, she felt it was important to be with them for this week.
All parents can appreciate the importance of being there for young children as they begin a new school year. Unfortunately, Michelle Obama wasn't able to be with her daughters yesterday. As reported today by the Indianapolis Star:
FISHERS, Ind. -- Michelle Obama on Wednesday described her struggles to balance career and family -- and spoke of the guilt she often feels when she shortchanges either one.
But her presentation before a mostly female, friendly crowd of 250 in reliably Republican Hamilton County was about more than underscoring that she and her husband, Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, understood family pressures.
Even then, Obama wasn't done for the day. UPI detailed her Wednesday evening:
The National Black Baptist Convention meeting in Cincinnati warmly welcomed Michelle Obama who called on members to "struggle for the world as it should be."
Obama had to wait for the crowd of about 7,000 to calm down before she could begin her speech Wednesday night, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. She began by telling the National Baptist Convention USA she was speaking "as a person of faith who believes we have all have been called to serve our fellow men and women and to honor God's creation."
"We can either settle for the world as it is, or we can fight and struggle for the world as it should be," she said.
It doesn't seem as though anyone in the mainstream media asked the obvious question: If the candidate's wife felt it was important to be with her children this week, and that's why she was unable to pay her respects at the 9/11 ceremony, why did she spend yesterday campaigning in two states?
Why was she campaigning instead of being at the 9/11 observance?
Well, you can take a pig out of the mud and excrement, but it will still smell like mud and excrement. Of course, I am referring to the policies of the democrat party and how that relates to the particle accelerator in Europe./ sarc off
I would call that a Michelle Excuse Zot
I thought so too until I read the fine print. She wasn't there available during the school day. She was away out of state campaigning.
she was passing out sweets.
Spare me that pap.
This is FR, not MSM, or the GOP.
The question was why MS 0bama wasn't at the 9/11 ceremony.
The excuse for not being at the ceremony was that she " ... was back in Chicago with her daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, since this is the first week of school."
That was pure B/S.
Your flight of fancy allows her to fly from Indy and Cincy, but precludes her from flying back to Chicago from NY?
These people must think we are all fools.
No way it only took one day to go across two states and make stops in each..unless she flew. Even then..Ill bet she stayed over somewhere.
Obama’s team has finally figured out that most Americans just don’t like Michelle. She always looks angry, even when she uses that phony smile they have tried to teach her.
Cindy always looks lovely.
That's who Michelle is, and that's deep down that's who B. Hussein is. Hope and change are long gone, and the real, very angry con man is starting to show its ugly head. He's an affirmative action silver spoon version of Jon Cary with major hate issues.
I actually thought that she made a much better impression when they were dressing her in expensive designer clothes. Her elitist demeanor could be dismissed as snobby, rather than angry and hate filled.
I was flipping channels yesterday, and saw her enter the stage of the Ellen show, dancing. She looked very unattractive and moosey. I mean, she is a really big woman, big boned, not fat. She must out weigh Barry.
wait one minute here. How can Obama even consider running for Pres...Why he has YOUNG children still in school. Surely he’s being a bad parent if he doesn’t take them to school on their first day.
How will he ever be able to do it all if he were to be elected President.
The smell coming from these people is revolting.
Perhaps Barry is not proud of his wife, and sending her to campaign in Guam with Joe Biden would have been too obvious.
He's The One, that's how.
Fear of being booed?
Thank you for your kind and encouraging words.
When he drew that picture my heart broke and breaks to this day when I look at it because he drew the firefighter smiling. He didn’t realise and I certainly didn’t tell him that so many firefighters lost their lives.
We just focused on honoring the guys down the street from us.
My son is 13 now. He knows the whole story now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.