CNN’s Randi Kaye examines how Michelle Obama may help break down stereotypes of black women.

Erica Hill
AC360 ° Correspondent

Imagine what this morning must have been like for the Obamas. Did Michelle Obama wake up, turn to her husband and say, “Good morning, Mr. President?” Were they even able to sleep? Have Malia and Sasha already logged on to their local shelter’s website to find their new dog (yes, I am unabashedly lobbying for the new First Family to rescue that puppy!)? When does the reality of what just happened sink in? Every First Family must have that “Oh my goodness, WE DID IT!” feeling, coupled with a tinge of disbelief… and relief. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in those moments!

Of course, the “sinking-in” time is short-lived. Before lunchtime today, word came that the President-elect’s first top secret intelligence briefing has already been scheduled for tomorrow. Last night, before Grant Park had cleared out, I was assigned a piece on what kind of First Lady Michelle Obama will be, and I wasn’t alone. In The New York Post’s story this morning, we were told Mrs. Obama will bring “glamour” to the White House; The Times in the UK paints Michelle Obama as a “new type of First Lady”, who is “supportive, independent and a fashion icon.” The Reuters headline reads “Michelle Obama: new style of First Lady”.

It’s interesting that so many stories about Michelle Obama make mention of her fashion sense. Yes, she has brought great style to the campaign trail and will likely continue to be a trendsetter in the White House, not unlike Jackie Kennedy. We know she shops at the mall stores many other American moms frequent: JCrew and White House/ Black Market. But there’s more to Michelle Obama than her shopping habits. For a glimpse of the kind of First Lady she will be, we should be turning to her style as a daughter, a wife, and a mother.

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Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, speaks during the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Monday.

Editor’s Note: You can read more Lisa Bloom blogs on “In Session”

Lisa Bloom
AC360° Contributor
In Session Anchor

The pundits applaud and cheer for the newly softened Michelle Obama after her speech. Flattened, more like it, by the American political machine’s insistent steamrolling of intelligent, accomplished women into one dimensional wifeys, apparently still the only mold of First Lady palatable to the electorate.

She came to us in last night’s speech, she said, as a daughter, a sister, a wife and a mother: identities in which she exists only in relation to family members, identities which have defined women for centuries. The first two require only birth. The third and fourth define women solely in relation to our husbands and children.

Are these identities important to strong women? Of course, just as they are for men. Our identities as children and siblings and parents and spouses are key parts of who we all are. But can we imagine a successful man introducing himself on a national political stage as a son, a brother, a husband, a father, and devoting his speech exclusively to these roles? Can we imagine him omitting his work entirely?

There was one drumbeat in Michelle’s speech, surely carefully vetted by the campaign strategists: family, family, family. Breaking news: she loves her daughters, she loves her husband, she loves her mother and her deceased father. Family values are important to her. Of course they are.

When she talked about work at all, it was Barack’s, not her own. She waxed eloquent for hundreds of words about her husband’s work on the South Side of Chicago, but not about her own career in the Chicago mayor’s office, or in public interest programs. There was just one brief throwaway line about how she left a big law firm job for community service, and how she loves America because a working class girl like her got into law school (just as girls are accepted in law schools now around the globe).

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Editor’s note: During CNN’s coverage of the Democratic National convention last night, CNN’s Senior Political Analyst, David Gergen made some observations after Michelle Obama’s speech. The transcript is found below. What did you think of Michelle Obama’s speech?

CAMPBELL BROWN: Anderson, I want to ask David to follow up on the point that he had made earlier, a complaint, David, that you had had earlier, about sort of the lack of compelling message coming out of this convention so far. Did that change, do you think, when she took the stage tonight?

DAVID GERGEN: I think she rescued the evening for the Democrats. But much more importantly, she gave the validation for Barack Obama and the Obama family that I think Americans were looking for. You wanted to have some better sense of who are these people, what are their values, where do they come from? And more importantly, what do they believe our future ought to be about?

And it was a very deft speech in all sorts of ways. Not just the grace points — I mean, she did this so well about reaching out to Hillary Clinton, talking about the 80th anniversary. She did it well by wrapping together the anniversary for women and the anniversary for Martin Luther King, the two strands that define her as an African- American woman.

And she was — but she spoke so movingly about her own personal life and where she came from and why she went to public allies and began to get so interested in public service but then linked it up to Barack Obama and what he’s all about.
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Jessica Yellin
CNN Congressional Correspondent

In her stump speech, Michelle Obama often says that America is not yet where it needs to be. “We are still a nation that’s too divided. We live in isolation and because of that isolation we fear one another,” she explains. She says her husband will help us come together.

Seems she’s ready to help.

In what could be a valiant effort to bridge those divides, Michelle Obama is going where few mortals venture: New York high society.

At two fundraisers tonight she rubs elbows with le tout monde New York – the types whose names are often in print, always in bold. These include hosts Calvin Klein, the fashion designer; Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue; and Andre Leon Talley, Vogue Editor-at-large and darling of the haute couture set. (You’ll often find him in an oversized fur coat surrounded by emaciated celebrities).

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Hey Bloggers,

Just wanted to let you guys know about our program tonight:

AC360° will have the first primetime sit-down interview with Michelle Obama, wife of Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.

We’ll talk about how the re-ignited Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy is affecting the family, her husband’s campaign, and everything in between….

Join us tonight at 10p ET for the 360° interview

Up close with Barack Obama’s wife Michelle. They’ve been married for 15 years. But before they got serious, she put him to the test. Here’s a preview from Randi Kaye.

She’s been dubbed “the closer”.  That’s because Michelle Obama has proven an effective fundraiser and campaigner in her husband’s presidential quest.  But that wasn’t always the case.

It took some promises and some bribes – a promise by him that he’d stop smoking, and a pledge to their two young girls that win or lose, they get a puppy out of the deal.

Now that she’s on board, she’s doing every thing in her power to win and as she puts it “keep it real”.  Some have suggested she may be keeping it a little too real.  Her candid comments about her husband’s dirty socks and body odor have gotten her in trouble, as well as this bombshell, “For the first time in my adult lifetime I am really proud of my country.”

Michelle’s older brother Craig Robinson (an accomplished guy in his own right – he’s head coach of the men’s basketball team at Brown), tells us with Michelle, what you see is what you get.  He also says she’s pretty thick-skinned, “When it’s on her she handles it just fine…When it comes to criticizing Barack or somebody else in the family, or someone she really cares about, she is the best person to have in your corner.” Her candor is certainly a change from previous first lady contenders, and while some pundits have bashed her for it, others have called it refreshing.  And voters are lapping it up, packing in by the hundreds to hear Michelle Obama speak.

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