Osler's Razor

While I agree with him on many things, on the one I know the most about (clemency), I have been sometimes critical of President Obama, in a wide variety of places-- up to and including the Washington Post (though I have been a bigger supporter lately).

All that aside, I will say this: Michelle Obama is a remarkable first lady.  There are a lot of things I admire about her:

1) As someone who was a very successful lawyer, it has to be a challenge for her to be so completely in her husband's shadow for these eight years. I get the idea that theirs had been a marriage of equals, and I am excited to see that re-emerge once the President's second term ends. In this role, she continues to exhibit the qualities that I try (often unsuccessfully) to model to my law students.

2) I really admire her interactions with the public. She seems warm and smart and engaged. It may be that (like former first lady Hillary Clinton) she is an introvert by nature, but she is wonderful when she does get out among people.

3) Her focus on fitness and nutrition has been great-- and addresses a real need in this country.

4) From what I can tell, she has a certain gravitas that allows her a different role at times than other first ladies have enjoyed. My hunch is that her voice is heard more often than we know within and around the White House, and that may be a good thing.

The first lady is not a politician, per se, but she is a public figure. Which first lady do you think was a great public figure? And what will it be like to have (as we will), a first husband?