Blair House Hosts The Obamas

Emily Post would have been hard pressed to render a Solomon-worthy answer to the Head of State etiquette issue that surrounded presidential sleep overs at Blair House.  Throw in a ghost, 5,000 more square feet than the 65,000 square foot white Georgian manor caddy corner across the street, a detested ex-Australian Prime Minister getting an honor from a detestable president, two little girls that will have moved 5 times in four weeks (Chicago to Hawaii back to Chicago to the Hay-Adams to Blair House to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue) to and a request to park the family at Blair House early.  One American head of state rules who stays at Blair House and the future US head of state wanted to use the presidential suite early. Hmmm.  The hopeful future head of state lost that battle and moved in to 1651 Pennsylvania Avenue on Martin Luther King's actual birthday January 15th. 

It's no secret that President-elect Obama and his family requested to move into Blair president, but were bumped by the former prime minister of Australia, John Howard. Double-booking! Incoming presidents and their families traditionally move into Blair House on January 15, five days before inauguration. The Obama family asked to move in several days earlier than the due date—before their daughters started school—but they were denied access by the Bush administration. They ended up moving into the historic Hay-Adams instead. Howard, by the way, was booked for only one night: January 12.

Lyndon Baines Johnson's administration started Blair House's acquisition of official provenance by adding it to National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Blair House is a honest to goodness National Historic Landmark (NHL) complete with signatures and ceremonies commemorating it as such during the Nixon presidency.  As Barack Obama echoes elements of Abraham Lincoln's ascendancy to the presidency, its a pertinent fact that Blair House was the residence for a Lincoln staffer.  None of Barack's staffers will be holed up in there as the State Department has control of the building.  Interestingly, competitor presidential aspirant Seward from the Empire State became Lincoln's Secretary of State as in modern times, Hillary Rodham Clinton is the Secretary of State designate from New York for a President-elect Obama.  (Photo courtesy BH website)

First, it was the home of a newspaper publisher, then a family compound as hebought the house next door to house his daughter and brand spanking new son-in-law who was related to Robert E. Lee.  A century later the US government turned it into a US owned asset in 1942.  Harry S Truman camped there for almost four years after gutting the inside of the White House to restore it to the level of powerful beauty George Washington and James Hoban envisioned more than two hundred years ago.  Blair House also saw the genesis of the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine.  There was No Blair House or official guest house in 1792, DC was swamp land with tobacco farms plantations sprinkled about with slave labor.  President Truman put Blair House into the public consciousness in the fifties for another reason.  Puerto Rican nationalists killed a Secret Service agent outside Blair House as they tried to rush the premises to assassinate the president.  Now Blair House is part of the security cordon covered by the White House's Secret Service protection.  

Bill Clinton practiced his speech, revised his speech in the suite's library, then stood next to his limo and bellowed for Hillary and Chelsea to hurry up the morning of his first inaugural.  Blair House has seen it all.  Sasha and Malia had a homework corner set up for them.  Blair House is a giant interconnected set of townhouses with a suite in the light colored one with the formal entrance with the green awning over the porch.  First, President -elect Obama and Michelle Obama will formally sign the guest book filled with the likes of Charles de Gaulle, jawaharal Nehru, Nelson Mandela and Queen Elizabeth II.  The Obamas will reside on the second floor with access to a living room, library and sitting room and a bathroom recently upgraded to a marbleized five star plus venue.  CSPAN, my favorite channel, will broadcast a special showing many of these specialized rooms inside Blair House.  This is red-letter Special because cameras and film crews are allowed in that august space about as often as a lunar eclipse combines with a meteor shower.  (Photo courtesy State Department)

Someday Malia and Sasha's memoirs will include the short stay in the sumptuous Blair House post 1980's Regan Renovations.  This story from Laura Blair Marvel chronicals the adopted daughters sojourn in Blair House before 1942 in the book, A Child in Blair House: Memoir.

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Future First Family & A White House Transition

Monday, November 10th is a day of historical significance and import. Michelle Obama will ride with her future president in a chauffeur-driven armored limousine onto the curved drive of State Pl NW to the South Portico of the Executive Mansion. President-Elect & Mrs. Obama will be greeted by the current renters as visiting (pre) heads of state and enter through the Diplomatic Entrance. Cameras galore will memorialize the shot of the first African American woman to enter the White House as a future First Lady and CEO of the East Wing. Already in front of the White House the foundation of the presidential review stand for the parade for the 44th presidency is under construction.

The next formal appearance by Mrs. Obama to the White House is pre-scheduled. She will arrive on the North Portico from Blair House for a sip of tea (calm the stomach) and a ladylike bite (no lipstick messups) of a piece of delish pastry (stay away from anything jelly, crumbly or creme filled). On 20 January, 2009 at about 10:30ish she will get in the backseat of another limo for a ride with Mrs. Bush (who is leaving the White House for the last time as First Lady) to go to her husband's last job site, The United States Capitol. Federal Law says the lawyerly Obamas have to arrive Cinderella-like at least one minute before noon or there is some sort of Constitutional pumpkin crisis.

Michelle, or as her best friend calls her, Meesh, will try to visit or speak with at least three head of elite (in the educational excellence meaning as well as the tony) DC area private schools, stratospheric uppercrust Maret, crayons to ivy league bound seniors Georgetown Day School and Chelsea Clinton's alma mater, Sidwell Friends in DC. My sympathies Malia, (pretty sure the Sorting Hat would say she's a Ravenclaw), there is not a Dumbledore in sight as none of the schools would rank above Hogwarts. She will be just like Harry Potter on the first day of school, all alone, and so famous its eyepopping to the student gawkers. EXPECTO PATRONUM! Heads up, it came right in the end for that Harry chap, even when he continuously made the front page of The Daily Prophet for his legendary indiscretions and exploits. Like Mrs. Weasley, Michelle Obama is weirding out as she participates in the "O" Order while trying to shield her children from the bogarts, dementors and Death Eaters ahead. Wands at the ready!

President Bush & President-Elect Obama will walk across the West Colonnade, (an innovation by Thomas Jefferson as an elegant way to cover up the stables), and enter the West Wing. Along the route are French doors and windows that lead into a Cabinet Room and the personal secretaries office. The Rose Garden will be on the left and further out on the South Lawn is where Marine One lands to get the president to his even bigger plane or the lush cabins at Camp David. The last time Senator Obama was in the White House was during the early days of the government's financial collapse and a tightly choreographed tableau took place to keep Bush, McCain & Obama from being in the same frame for the pool cameras. The now President-Elect Obama is way on the end. A certain somebody is in his chair now. The discussion about being president should be really great or kind of like the angry moments produced after this image was taken.

There's the White House meeting between the outgoing and incoming commander in chief, usually accompanied by a parallel confab between their spouses. This time it's taking place much sooner than is typical, on Monday, less than a week after Election Day.

What White House spokesman Tony Fratto called "a very special meeting in our democracy" brings the new guy to the White House in a way he never has visited before. Obama will be treated to a tour of his new home and office with the eyes of someone about to move in, and with the man holding the secrets known by only the small club of presidents as his guide.

In other words, Obama will get to hear and see the good stuff: maybe the weapons cache hidden in the West Wing or classified communications capabilities or the instructions for summoning a cup of coffee. The president-elect gets to, in that hackneyed cliche of campaigns, actually measure the drapes.

By the way Barack, the secret is the president always sits in the same chair. Let's pick the Cabinet Room per se. Under the table, where POTUS (President of the United States) sits is a special button that you press and the White House Staff will bring anything from the iced green tea youcrave to an arugula heavy salad. Other folks have to win the big enchilada election to get that kind of service. Pssst, the "mess", run by the Navy, has a secret door to bring dinner if you are in the Sit Room ordering a four star flag officer to, cough, complete a phased withdrawal from Iraq. The one thing Barack will not hear on Monday is the four Ruffles and Flourishes - Highest honor - until he hears Hail to The Chief played just for him on Inauguration Day. President Ford sometimes had his little band, The President's Own, United States Marine Band play the University of Michigan's fight song instead. President-Elect Obama went to mostly brainiac universities, but his love of basketball allows him to use the Chicago Bulls announcer if he wants - .... and NOW 6' 2 ..... give it up for ..... President Barack OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH - baaaaaaaa - mmmmmmaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!! This visit will help work out the details.

Michelle's transition may be the most difficult out of everybody's in the Land of Obama. At the end of the potential 10 years she will invest in America & Barack Obama as president. It is she who will have tomake the most adjustments. Her resistance is seen in the little microscopic details that shall become overblown without her even trying. Michelle already is into the politics of Barack's career for two years worth of hugs, tears, questioning her patriotism, that one major fashion miss with the god-awful designer dress she wore election night and the fierce protection she lovingly provides for her rewards in this life, her little girls.

The next eight years will weigh heavily as the demands of her volunteer role eat at her time. Michelle has a legacy to bequeath, not just for her daughters, but millions of women with her pigmentation and those of other hues from the palest to the darkest. What she chooses to devote her talents to should last well beyond their time in White House as an enduring testament to the nation as something her girls can admire for the rest of their lives, Mommy as role model and modeling in Vogue. Hillary Clinton has set the bar Heaven high with her life post White House. Michelle's influence as First Lady is huge. She will be more photographed than Princess Diana in the coming months, more talked about for her fashion choices and cultural themes for state occasions with no let up. It's important that she is at the White House today to prepare a brief for her immediate life ahead. She's going to need those lucky charms she wears.

Oh and Michelle, there's a little matter of this rug that has to be custom ordered to match the colors inside the Oval Office. Former president's are usually kind enough to leave the old one behind (Bush's is rather muted in a pastel blah southwestern colors starburst) until the one of a kind rug is ready to go atop a beautiful wooden floor in the Obama Oval. Please note that the bald eagle is facing the laurel leaves and not the arrows of war. There's a couple of couches and two chairs that will be on every nightly news program that have to be selected too.

A dress that will be worn only once and end up in an exhibit at the Smithsonian is the First Lady's Inaugural gown. The designer will be chased down for details as soon as The First Lady in Waiting's Press Secretary and Social Secretary (once hired) release the information. Talk about pressure. Add that getting dressed for the event will be the first time the family will have spent any extended time in the Residence of the Executive Mansion. Good thing there's a beauty salon of sorts in the place. Even though Bill Clinton called it, the Crown Jewel of the American Penal System as the Secret Service has rules for everybody, family and guest alike, it is important to understand the budget and the details to running a residence and a White House social agenda. Add a puppy, kids needing a rescue as they get lost in the place in a raucous game of hide and seek, Hannah Montana premiers in the White House theatre and its the continuance of a great American story starring the wonderful Obamas.

Sasha's first impromptu press conference ought to be a hoot. After all, Caroline Kennedy gave hers when she was 5. Besides Sasha, as a smaller tyke when her father was being sworn into the US senate with her mom looking on, got Dick Cheney to high-five her in the old senate chamber.

Already, Michelle has a Chief Usher hired by the ultra efficient Secret Service. She will receive a Giant book that allows her and the girls to choose suites of antique to more modern furniture for Sasha & Malia's rooms as well as the private spaces in the residences. The antiques in the state rooms are priceless. After her tour a sense of history and about 100,000 more square feet of space than she is accustomed to plus the enormity of the details and a lack of time will have her focused on this move. Will the girls bedrooms be on the same floor as her and Barack's or will they be upstairs near the Solarium where they can let loose? Michelle's Mom's choice of where to live in DC will weigh heavily in that decision. The dog will get loose at some point too - See Barney and his latest snippy interaction with the nosy petting press. A new tradition comes to the White House, but first they have to see how to run the place before its all official next year.

The First Couple, Renegade & Renaissance, will walk into the pages of History, together.

A great book, America's First Families: An inside View of 200 Years of Private Life in the White House, is from the quintessential historical chronicler of First Ladies, Carl Sferrazza Anthony. Their stories are one of a kind, yet uniquely American. They get the best of America's treasures as a president's offspring or spouse and then it all magically disappears like clockwork at the incoming administration's next inauguration as part of our Democracy.

This post is part of Mind Sorbet's Transition Series - for Barack Obama's presidency. Hi Mom, hope you are enjoying!
(Posts are chronological)

Presidential Transitions & the Arc of History

Presidencies begin in strange places. Some people look in a mirror and admire a future president others believe some Deity gave them a Divine Right while more knew enough to take advantage of the right time with favorable circumstances. All eventually come to the judgment of scholars who mine or dumpster dive in multi-million dollar library archives for scraps of obscure papers, have a command of the bald facts underneath the lipsticked pretty version and are far more fearful of the wrath of their peers than some former president, usually long dead. The presidency that still causes the most fights, yet sells the most books is Abraham Lincoln. Honest Abe laid down some lessons that stay true while modern presidencies understand their term in office begins as the Obamarella clock strikes 12 on election night while people set up his outdoor stadium today.

This will be the first wartime presidential transition in 40 years and the first in the age of terrorism anxieties after Sept. 11, 2001. Government planners worry about a window of vulnerability in the first days and months of a new presidency when thousands of administration jobs have not been filled yet and a newly elected Congress is just settling in.

"Don't worry about jinxing the campaign or being too presumptuous," urges White House transition expert Clay Johnson, who says post-election planning should have been under way for months. "It is irresponsible for anybody who could be president not to prepare to govern effectively from day one."

The country — and the world — will be watching.

Tuesday, 4 November, will see a historic fanfare and a mandate not seen in decades as Barack Obama streaks to the finish line clutching the title of president-elect. John McCain will be a grumpy bestselling author that brings a rout for the second time for an Arizona Senator. Historians will start loading up on all of the newspapers as they will be the first draft of history. As soon as excitable news anchors shriek the winner in southern states like Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia on election night at 5PM PDT the presidency will have started in earnest. Paging Cassandra Butts, come out into the open now. She has been the sub rosa leader of the secret Obama transition team that has 77 days to get it all together.

Presidential campaigns rate their own bookshelf. There is much about the Obama Campaign of energetic septuagenarian and barely twenty one year old volunteers, the vaunted ground game, polls and GOTV that will fascinate campaign scholars and political junkies for Ages. But who the president is will be foreshadowed as the transition heats up. Tens of thousands of political supporters will call and seek demand jobs in the new administration for less than 8000 appointed jobs of which the senate must confirm 1,177. But the roles that will capture the history writers and watchers are the appointments that get announced with a press conference involving the president-elect. It will be a display of judiciousness to see who lands what role. Question will revolve around organizational design and if it appears ad hoc, rewards cronies or does it have an overarching purpose that reflects the president's agenda. The press will race off to seek dirt on the nominees and the senators will grumble they are being rushed to confirm so many while they are planning the inauguration and their holiday. But the time of testing will have commenced.

There will be $8.5 million worth of high tech office space to handle a cast of thousands and a discreet place to hide the budget wars. There is a new A much noted meeting of the president and president elect. The future first lady will get a tour that will make her gulp from the current first lady as her brain plays toss with educational choices for the kids. Speaking of the kids, cough up the dog quickly please Michelle & Barack, Sasha & Malia will not have as many friends as they do in Chicago! Will the kids bedrooms be on the third official floor with Mom & Dad or will they want to be up near the solarium? Who will be the Poet Laureate needs a check the box decision and what other themes will be stressed in advance. The transition means every aspect of the president-elects life gets turned upside down while tough decisions need to be made that will disappoint many supporters as some may not get the coveted job but a lesser role or none at all. Others may find their full access suddenly restricted as the campaign detritus is shunted aside for the seasoned political professionals. Will Obama succumb to micromanaging or will he rise above it with a first class chief of Staff who jealously guards the gates or will it be a more time consuming consensus collaborative effort.

Speech writers will be intravenously sucking those blasted energy drinks as they yell at all the policy shops to get it together for the inaugural address. People will have to know who gets to sign off on what sections and they are not even in the White House yet. The sense of urgency will amp up as all realize OMG, simultaneously we have to work on the president's very first State of the Union address which is due the following week. Meanwhile everyday an obscure highly secretive person from the Director of National Intelligence or Langley will visit the president elect, briefing him on all of the ongoing & latest intelligence and black ops. With two wars, there will be a majority of time given to setting the national security operation up to ensure continuity and a new direction. The whole Homeland Security portfolio is ripe for a reorg.

A new White House scheduler will turn up along with protocol specialists who will explain the world's interest in the new president. This will be expressed separately from an inundated communications operation as they see an avalanche of requests for press credentials because of the historic nature of events. The scheduler will separate out the need to plan inaugural activities, look at time to interview candidates and future major ambassadors, and sort calls from heads of state rushing to be Nation/Monarchy Number 1 to be the first State Dinner recipient and getting a portrait taken that goes into every federal outpost. An official representative from the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies will have something to say or a question to ask every single day. They will be listened to as $19,000,000 was set aside by Congress for transition purposes. The complicated schedule will also need time to understand the complexity of the football - the briefcase with the codes to the US nuclear arsenal. The Secret Service will sit the Obamas down collectively and individually to say here are the new and improved security rules you will have as a head of state. Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs wants money and more troops as the Secretary of the Treasury says nyet and here is what we must do on the domestic front to forestall a Depression era economy. Lurking in the background are all those sparkly campaign promises which the public, the press and the president-elect's political enemies will remember and recite.

The policy shop needs clear lines of authority. Historians will be watching with eagle eyes to see how the transition is managed and what it bodes for the nation. That's important because each network will load up on Pulitzer Prize winning authors and Nobel Laureates to discuss the decision making of the transition and what it means during the nonstop coverage of the inauguration. Michelle's hat, should she choose to wear one will be an intense topic of discussion for a panel of milliners as if they were discussing when will President Obama get us out of the Iraq debacle. Next comes lots of gray hairs for Obama as he gets on the 44th roller coaster ride as soon as he knows he has 270 electoral college votes, not on Tuesday, the 20th of January at one minute before noon because the historians are already deep into all of the notes and clues you gave while setting up shop.

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

The second book Barack Obama said he would take into the Oval office first day is from Doris Kearns Goodwin look at Abraham Lincoln's ability to get his thoughts together as he took the train east from Springfield Illinois to his inaugural. Lincoln invited prior bitter competitors into his presidential orbit and used his gifts to manage the clash of personalities. Barack Obama wants the extraordinary book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln as a template.

This is part of The Transition Series to the presidency of Barack Obama
(please not the posts at the link above are stored by date)

Coming up Obama Roses

Can roses last for three weeks?

Right now, electoral politics favor Obama and his campaign focused on the middle class rather than John McCain's campaign which focuses on the scorched destruction of Middle Earth. Republicans are leapfrogging over the partisan divide to support Barack Obama. Republican Nebraskan senator Chuck Hagel and great friend of McAngry will see his wife on TV tonight sitting next to Michelle Obama as she loudly proclaims her support for the Democratic ticket. Bill Buckley's kid, Christopher, was thrown under the moving republican caboose as he openly supported Obama. Founded by his father , the conservative National Review magazine's editorial board had a bad magical meltdown as they sent tazered orcs to derail his support. Then there is Colin Powell, friend of McCain that called irascible Alaskan Bridge to Nowhere Ted Stevens' character sterling, but has not endorsed the elderly republican nominee who is the same age as him. Crazy neocon Iraq policy supporter, Christopher Hitchens came out in support of Barack Obama.

Now, Obama never planned on this being a 50+1 election in the Clintonian political tradition. The secret is the press does not have budgets that allow then to travel to see what is really happening on the ground in all 50 states. The mostly deskbound journalists search the wilds of the internet for hyperbole, but missed the biggest political story of the year. 24/7 Obama organizing. It happened in Iowa too, in which DC journalists just could not believe it. The community organizer actually knows how to organize. Rolling Stone and a couple of others periodically point out Obama has put together an Army that rivals Dumbledore's. Neighbor to Neighbor is one of the Obama special galleons that alerts the OA to call or canvass folks right where one lives. The Great Schlep is an independent outstanding effort that the mainstream press just discovered that is happening with Jewish organizers.

Contrast all that with the McCain/Palin racial pride hate speech that characterizes their efforts as they gin up all the irrational rationales Obama is a presidential risk. Oops, they forgot its not about the candidates as much as it is about the audience and their biggest concerns, J-O-B-S and keeping the roof over one's head. McCain railing about a republican funded charity that made William Ayers a board member interests a small sliver of the electorate. That ain't nowhere near enough low information voting folks to get McGrumpy elected. Can anybody do math at camp McCain? Obama knew how much money he needed to be competitive and fund a serious effort. John McCain had from February to July to build a republican warchest to not need public funding either. Instead, he rested on his laurels as Obama & Clinton slugged it out and gave away a strategic advantage. That kind of thinking is what keeps the US in Iraq and politically moribund in enlisting the rest of the world's assistance in other causes. Commander in Chief Barack Obama is funding his boots on the ground and ensuring the supply lines and TV ads are fully functioning while the supposed military expert is pinned down in his own supposedly safe territories where Obama soldiers are making inroads. For goodness sakes, Obama is even product placement inside Xbox now as John McCain acknowledges he's learning the art of Googling. The Queen of England who is even older that John Sydney McCain III has had her own YouTube channel longer and rocks out on an iPod.

Early voting - the strategic advantage goes to O. McCain is offering to pay people in Florida to do what Team O's supporters are doing for free and love of candidate. The enthusiasm gap is real. When the republican governor of Florida would rather wear iridescent mouse ears in Orlando than be photographed with McCain at a campaign rally, John has landed with an earth shattering thud in the Bush leagues. Obama's ground operation is everywhere in battleground states while McCain still isn't open on Saturdays at some of his limited hours offices. Voter registration increased by millions this election cycle that did not happen by accident or fraud. The subject of the group ACORN is alleged voter registration fraud, but they are not directly affiliated with the Obama registration effort no matter how hard McCain tries or claps his hands in Tinkerbell fairy voter belief. What the geniuses forget to mention is the law requires ACORN to turn in every single card even though ACORN knows they may be fraudulent. In many cases, ACORN hired idiots that did idiotic things shich ACORN acknowledges by pointing to the newly fired idiot's work when they turn in the form. In any case, ACORN did not do the registering that Obama supporters did in vast numbers in every single state. Listen up Republicans in the leaky McCain paper boat, Obama planned to turn out numbers from the very beginning that would demonstrate a new map. 1,000,000 new registrations is a drop in the bucket to what Obama did legally and reputably. (Props to C who caught my unfinished thought.)

Family moments have made this campaign truly uplifting on the Obama side of the ledger. The indomitable Sasha and the elegant Malia make their hardworking Mom and intellectual Dad truly appeal to the masses.

Michelle Obama: First Lady In Training, Mom In Chief

Michelle Obama is everywhere in public, yet it is an illusion. Her schedule packs in photo shoots, campaign events and rounds of interviews on given days that appear in public as part of a carefully crafted plan. Many of the covers and photos publicly seen now were shot in early July. Michelle's mom is her support system. The majority of her time is spent being what she will always be win, lose or draw after the November election, Mom in Chief. Michelle coined that phrase herself after expressly appreciating Jackie Kennedy's outstanding parenting skills. First Lady duties would take an armored stretch limo rumbler seat behind being a driver's seat Mom.


Michelle was hard pressed to wear makeup all the time when first upon the campaign trail. She didn't have time and was famously photographed at the Iowa State Fair in a headband while campaign rivals and media sycophants tried stupidly to twist her words about family and having her home life orderly as a knock against one of America's most drama filled political families, The Clintons. In the Obama household, there is a no whining rule both Sasha, 7, & Malia (10) verified on the famous Access Hollywood family interview. Michelle could share that wise bon mot with the former self-absorbed president who thinks its his God given right to whine incessantly when in front of the cameras about how misunderstood he felt. The national political press prats came unglued when they could not figure out a decades old dap or fist bump between Michelle & Barack the night he became the presumptive Democratic nominee in Minnesota. (Copyright 2008 Essence Magazine / Essence Magazine)

Whining wingnuts and conservative so-called Christians with hate on their lips seized upon Michelle's words to try and scare voters, especially white low income ones that she is not patriotic or other false flags. Michelle Obama's family values are clearly on display with a faithful husband and adorable children with mega schedules of their own. She puts them first. Michelle exudes class, landing on Vanity Fair's World's Best Dressed list, after putting a spark in retailers after co-hosting The View in June. Cindy McCain was considered serviceable enough wearing designer clothes, but not evincing the all important iconic look like Michelle in dominating fashion roundups. Some are convinced the arch of Michelle's eyebrows give her a more stern appearance while others marvel at how well she keeps hearth and home together in the midst of chaos. The lady lawyer is much more than a clotheshorse.

Next week, Family Obama will be going to Hawaii for the first time since he sought the presidency. Michelle will be all over the newsstands on covers that will be side by side. The accompanying interviews sound her out about what she would do or propose as First Lady. She knows the general vicinity of helping moms on work life balance issues and kids on being the best they can, but states with bone crushing certainty what is not acceptable.

Michelle Obama: “There are a ton of issues that I care deeply about. But the notion of sitting around the table with a set of policy advisers—no offense—makes me yawn [laughter].

"I like creating stuff. I’d love to be working with young people. I’d love to be having more conversations with military spouses. I’ve learned not to let other people push you into something that fundamentally isn’t you.”

She minces no words about resenting some of the time Barack was not at home, but also speaks to her ways of dealing with it and finding new solutions. However, Mrs. Obama as partner is quick to defend Barack against lies and distortions. Michelle is big on Courage and not giving in to fear and she has her own roots in community organizing and GOTV - Get Out The Vote.

“My father took great pride in helping people have a choice in their lives,’’ she said during a conference call with members of the black press on Wednesday. “I am grateful to him for teaching me about the importance of voting. I remember sitting in people’s kitchens for hours. Sometimes I was bored, but I realized that this was important.”

Michelle Obama hosted Wednesday’s conference call with the Rev. Joseph Lowery, an Obama supporter and civil rights leader, as they kicked off the campaign’s nationwide voter registration efforts in African-American communities.

Nobody knows what publicity hound former supermodel Tyra Banks had flitting about in her head when she arose from her Holiday Express Inn digs and decided to be photographed as a fake First Lady Michelle Obama with a fake President Barack Obama at a fake White House for Harper's Bazaar. When celebrities are trying to imitate real people somewhere the space time continuum suffered a collapse. Michelle has here eyes squarely on the Prize, being the world's greatest Mom, best friends and partner to her husband, Barack Obama. Somewhere in there with the important stuff, Michelle Obama has to squeeze in an inaugural gown as the First Black First Lady and getting a hypoallergenic dog for the kids to romp with on the White House lawn.

Other Mind Sorbet posts including Michelle Obama:

• Cool Obama Family Campaigns & Celebrates
• Barack Obama's A Team
• Michelle Obama Says Hola in Puerto Rico
• Hoops, High Hopes & Bush's Lost Honor
• Michelle Obama, A First Partner & Lady

Cool Obama Family Campaigns & Celebrates

For 11/04/08 Election Pre-Celebration click here

Barack with Michelle & daughters and sister Maya and her family

Pink cowboy hats for Malia & Sasha courtesy of Montana's Senator Baucus before the parade were carefully placed by the girls in front as they clapped for the animals and the floats in the 4th of July parade. Sitting next to Sasha, her aunt uncle and pint sized cousin waved and cheered. The Butte, Montana crowd got into it by singing Happy Birthday to the newly minted ten year old Malia.

A picnic with a dad who virtually inhaled his hot dog in almost one bite, then spoke to the crowd at the barbecue seeking votes followed the parade. But the best fun was reserved with Malia & the rest of the Family Obama dancing the birthday night away in their hotel rooms. Each of the Obamas would then be able to say with straight faces they stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night...oh, that could be golden for the kids. They really want that hypoallergenic dog the most.

Malia Obama told her parents that spending her 10th birthday helping
her father campaign for the presidency far from home and "rocking out"
with her family after takeout in a modest hotel room was the best she
has ever had.

"I don't know whether she was just telling us what we wanted to hear. But from my perspective it was one of the best times I've had in a long time," Barack Obama, his voice choking up just a tad, told reporters traveling with him here Saturday from Montana, site of the birthday festivities over two days.

Parallels followed with the son of four time Academy award winner Charles Guggenheim filming Barack and family at abundant Montana picturesque settings for the short film biography to be presented at the Democratic Convention in Denver in August. Charles made a biopic for Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy. His An Inconvenient Truth Oscar winning son Don is doing the same for Barack Obama and family as the visit the World Mining Museum and other places of note in small communities. Don Guggenheim brought along his own young son for this part of the filming. Barack opening wide anticipating the traditional 4th of July hot dog made Michelle watch in a kind of wifely horrified please don't make me start laughing now way. All and all it was a fantastic public family day for the entire Obama clan even as his sister Maya was regretting the all black gear on such a sunny clear day.

"Are we going to seize this moment?" Obama asked about 1,500 Montanans gathered under a strong summer sun in this scrappy mining town. "Are we going to declare our independence from special interests, the oil companies and the gas companies that are preventing us from creating the kind of energy policy that will save our environment, and free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil by investing on solar and wind and biodiesel? That's the kind of independence we need to declare today."

What a great weekend for the Family Obama. Even with all the work of patiently waiting for Access Hollywood, Essence, Parenting and People to get their interviews in and pictures taken. Obama is looking forward to taking in the latest Pixar sensation, Wall-E which is garnering rave reviews and right wing republican ire. The Obamas are a Harry Potter family too.

Now with all that said, Ebony shows the other side with an August Cover photo that just takes it all to a new level. Who, four years ago would have had this in mind for the 2008 presidential election - not a living soul.

Italian Vogue Goes Black for July

Fashion features style. Style changes, wearing out its welcome in the blink of a jaundiced fashionista's eye. One thing stays and sticks no matter the fashion model. Black is the new black. Skin. July 2008 will be a historic edition of Vogue Italia as the fashion rag of record features only black models or those of African heritage. There have been many an edition featuring only white models as normal for haute couture in the course of the monthly publication.

This will be the first time a major magazine features women of color on the cover and on each page requiring a model. Mixed ethnic or outright African supermodels come from all over the world and one or two notable brown sets of cheekbones have the iconic status of one name, but not the opportunities or dividends paid to their white counterparts. Sadly, this historic issue is a result of pressure brought about from protests comprised of designers, models and their agents in New York City. The issue is photographed by Steven Meisel, Pat McGrath on makeup with Guido Palau wielding the golden blow dryer and silver hair brush. Interspersed amongst the fashion pictorials are stories about black women in the arts and entertainment in the issue edited by Franca Sozzani.

Italian Vogue's editor, Franca Sozzani, said her decision was influenced by the New York group, as well as by Barack Obama's success in the US presidential primaries.

Meisel said: "I thought, it's ridiculous, this discrimination. It's so crazy to live in such a narrow, narrow place. Age, weight, sexuality, race - every kind of prejudice.

"I have asked my advertising clients so many times, 'Can we use a black girl?' They say no."

Naomi Campbell faces six months wearing the same outfit in a real prison, commands attention on the most famous designers' and dilettantes catwalks and continuously demonstrates she has a Prada she-devil of a time controlling her narcissistic temper. However, she has rightly and justly stated she is a woman of color alone inside the power corridors of a pasty vanilla fashion world. We are so fortunate that concurrently American Vogue will deign to touch the topic with an article lamenting and showcasing the lack of black models in fashion. US Vogue decides who is in the magazine. They have not found the black fashion market one to cultivate as preservation of entitled exclusivity of deciding who is in the magazine is by a multitude of editors, production assistants and bean counters that are predominantly Caucasians. These management attitudes are dopey descendants of the unenlightened supremacist editorial direction deciding black models would play to stereotypes if the motifs were African inspired and they remain pigeon holed.

Black style saw an unbelievable uptick this week when the six foot tall model-like Mrs. Barack Obama co-hosted "The View" on American television sporting a black and white dress that sold out in a chain of stores ironically named White House Black Market. NBC's Today Show featured the designer, Donna Ricco, of Michelle's sleek tank dress. Runways in 2008 featured lineups with models of African descent for fall collections during fashion weeks all over the world. It highlights the problem that black people are interchangeable fashion icons rather than intrinsic insiders of the fashion management milieu. Diversity is a feature of everyday life rather than notable exceptions needing special editions or fashion footnotes. In the 1950's Paris embraced Josephine Baker and other notable people of color from entertainment, but not a full integration at all levels of society high and low throughout Europe and it continues today.

Money sparks the bottom line discussion as covers are judged by how well they sell. The market to which the magazine is targeted is predominantly white. Magazine sales figures fluctuate even with the stunning physical glory of Naomi on the cover. Not only does the model selection need consistent diversification, but so do the positions behind the cameras and the homogeneous editorial staffs could certainly expand their ranks and market possibilities. The recently departed courtier creator of prêt-a-porter, Yves Saint Laurent, the first major designer to use a black model on the runway, should be an inspiration to more designers and editors to follow in his footsteps. Fashion is about color - it should also appreciate its naturalness on the model as well.

Featured in the historic issue of Vogue Italy comes the enthralling story of a Sudanese supermodel, Alek Wek, demonstrating the photogenic look that stuns. Her autobiography is in the aptly named, Alek: From Sudanese Refugee to International Supermodel.