Michelle Obama on 'The View'
Posted: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 1:54 PM by Mark Murray
From NBC's Ben Weltman and Mark Murray
Co-hosting "The View" today, Michelle Obama answered questions on several different topics, including her controversial remarks, the political attacks on her, and Hillary Clinton.
VIDEO: MSNBC's Contessa Brewer talks with political pundits Andrea Tantaros and Chris Kofinis about what some are saying is a new softer Michelle Obama.
On the first-time-I've-been-proud-of-my-country remark: "Of course I am proud of my country. Nowhere in America could my story be possible. I'm a girl who grew up on the South Side of Chicago, my father was a working class guy who worked his shift all his life, and because of his hard work he sent not just me but my brother to Princeton... I am proud of my country without a doubt. I think when I talked about it during my speech, what I was talking about was having a part in the political process. People are just engaged in this election in a way that I haven't seen in a long time and I think everybody has agreed with that that people are focused, they're coming out."
On the political attacks on her: "I think it's a little bit of that. In this media age where the internet is so pervasive and there are 24-hour newscasts, I feel like I fill up some space. Right? I think that's a part of it. I also think it's competition, that's what politics at some point has become. And I think everybody is a little sick of that. Everybody is kind of tired of the tit for tat, and the who did what to who."
On Clinton and charges of sexism during the campaign: "I think that Hillary Clinton says she created 18 million cracks on a ceiling, and we need to keep pushing it and pushing it. Because it's only until women like her step out, take the risk, take those hits, and it's painful. And it's hurtful, but she has taken them so that my girls when they come along they won't have to feel it as badly."
On whether Clinton should be her husband's running mate: "My answer to this, and people have asked me before, I think the one thing that a nominee earns is the right to pick a vice president that they think will best reflect their vision of the country, and I just glad I will have nothing to do with it."
