Sen-IL 2016; Michelle proves she's not Hillary Clinton

[NewYorkExpress]

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/michelle-obama-definitely-not-entering-politics-after-white-house-n138836

First Lady Michelle Obama, took time out of her Monday to (once again) emphatically deny that she any interest in running, instead saying her post-FLOTUS will be something "service-based" (like running for office).

While she was one of President Obama's most effective surrogates/Fundraisers in 2012, running in her own right is a task that a FLOTUS has only done successfully twice before (Hillary Clinton).

Do you believe there is room for Obama to walk this statement back, should she change her mind, and would she even win a hypothetical 2016 Illinois Senate Primary in the first place?

[International Brotherhood of Bernard]

The only way I see her running is if she really wants to tick off the GOP after their attempts to gut her school lunch programs (given she would win the seat in a walk if she ran), but I don't think she has the fire in the belly. She has also emphatically denied that she will run, did Hilldawg do that prior to her 2000 NY-Sen run?

[Ogre Mage]

The only way I see her running is if she really wants to tick off the GOP after their attempts to gut her school lunch programs (given she would win the seat in a walk if she ran), but I don't think she has the fire in the belly. She has also emphatically denied that she will run, did Hilldawg do that prior to her 2000 NY-Sen run?

From what I recall, when the rumor first surfaced in early 1999 about First Lady Hillary Clinton running for the U.S. Senate, the response from Hillaryland was a curious silence.  I do remember vague statements about being flattered (we later learned that several N.Y. politicians were encouraging her to run) but she had "no plans" to do so.  By the spring this had morphed into statements that she was considering her options.  By June 1999 she was actively and openly exploring a run.

At this point in the 2000 cycle (June 1998) the possibility of Hillary running was on nobody's radar.  So Michelle Obama is experiencing scrutiny at a much earlier date.  There's still time for her to change her mind but I think she will probably not run.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Why doesn't she run for the Senate in Arkansas or New York instead?

[NHLiberal]

Why doesn't she run for the Senate in Arkansas or New York instead?

Don't joke about that...there are bizarre rumors that she will run for Senate in North Carolina

http://www.wnd.com/2014/06/future-shock-sen-michelle-obama-d-n-c/

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Why doesn't she run for the Senate in Arkansas or New York instead?

Don't joke about that...there are bizarre rumors that she will run for Senate in North Carolina

http://www.wnd.com/2014/06/future-shock-sen-michelle-obama-d-n-c/

Hmmm...just like Hillary, I suppose.  A first lady running for the Senate in a state she has NO connections to.

[moderatevoter]

I don't understand why she'd run in North Carolina. If she wants to be in the Senate, she could walk into that seat in Illinois.

[Never]

I don't understand why she'd run in North Carolina. If she wants to be in the Senate, she could walk into that seat in Illinois.

I agree that if Michelle wanted to enter the Senate, her easiest path would run through Illinois. Still, Burr doesn't seem like he would be that difficult for her to take out (though any other Democrat would probably lose to him).

[Maxwell]

Michelle is going to run in Texas, just to prove how blue Texas is gonna get!

[henster]

The Dems have a fine bench in IL they don't even need Michelle to take the seat this is the media looking for a story.

[LeBron]

What about Ohio? We were the state that put her husband over 270 in 2012, after all.

In all seriousness though, the Obama's deserve a break from all of the drama already. They've been in it for a decade now when Obama was just a rising star in the Democratic Party in the anti-war movement. It would be great to see her run in Illinois, North Carolina or some other potential state, but Democrats already have strong backup candidates in these states and plenty of resources for 2016. In fact, NC's most potential candidate is Anthony Foxx and Michelle would never run against him. Michelle shouldn't need to feel like she has to run anyways.

I could see her running in 2020 though when she's not as exhausted and she would still be young enough to start a political career then. Both of her daughters will be in college so she won't be as busy and there won't be as much hysteria against the Obama's as there will be against the Clinton's by the Republicans by then. Besides, Durbin will likely be wanting to retire in 2020 and after awhile, Republicans are going to miss the Obama's in Washington to sue, impeach, call a Kenyan socialist etc.

I'll respect whatever she ends up doing though and as perhaps the greatest First Lady since Eleanor, she should get to choose how she serves America post-2016.

[windjammer]

Michelle Obama has no political future, except maybe for promoting anti obesity programs.

She hates campaigning.

[SWE]

What about Ohio? We were the state that put her husband over 270 in 2012, after all.

Obama would've won without Ohio

[NHLiberal]

What about Ohio? We were the state that put her husband over 270 in 2012, after all.

Obama would've won without Ohio

Yeah that was Colorado buddy

[LeBron]

What about Ohio? We were the state that put her husband over 270 in 2012, after all.

Obama would've won without Ohio

Yeah that was Colorado buddy

Nope, every station called Ohio to get Obama to 274. CO was the state that put Obama over 300 though IIRC.

She won't really run in Ohio though and I doubt she ends up running in IL, either. I'll still be optimistic for a future run by her, but Michelle isn't interested plus both these states, even though Democrats disagree with them on a lot of things, are Portman and Kirk, who are willing to work with Reid and the Obama's on a few issues every so often. She would probably much rather prefer taking out a Burr, Johnson or Rubio. Not to say she'll run in either of those states, either.

[NHLiberal]

What about Ohio? We were the state that put her husband over 270 in 2012, after all.

Obama would've won without Ohio

Yeah that was Colorado buddy

Nope, every station called Ohio to get Obama to 274. CO was the state that put Obama over 300 though IIRC.

She won't really run in Ohio though and I doubt she ends up running in IL, either. I'll still be optimistic for a future run by her, but Michelle isn't interested plus both these states, even though Democrats disagree with them on a lot of things, are Portman and Kirk, who are willing to work with Reid and the Obama's on a few issues every so often. She would probably much rather prefer taking out a Burr, Johnson or Rubio. Not to say she'll run in either of those states, either.

No you're missing the point. In terms of the order states were called, yes, it was Ohio. But Colorado was the tipping point state that got him to 270. If you put all the states in order of Obama's margin of victory, he could have won without Florida, Ohio, and Virginia, his three worst states that he won. Colorado is the next worst state, and without Colorado, he doesn't have 270. Hence Colorado brings him to 270.

[LeBron]

What about Ohio? We were the state that put her husband over 270 in 2012, after all.

Obama would've won without Ohio

Yeah that was Colorado buddy

Nope, every station called Ohio to get Obama to 274. CO was the state that put Obama over 300 though IIRC.

She won't really run in Ohio though and I doubt she ends up running in IL, either. I'll still be optimistic for a future run by her, but Michelle isn't interested plus both these states, even though Democrats disagree with them on a lot of things, are Portman and Kirk, who are willing to work with Reid and the Obama's on a few issues every so often. She would probably much rather prefer taking out a Burr, Johnson or Rubio. Not to say she'll run in either of those states, either.

No you're missing the point. In terms of the order states were called, yes, it was Ohio. But Colorado was the tipping point state that got him to 270. If you put all the states in order of Obama's margin of victory, he could have won without Florida, Ohio, and Virginia, his three worst states that he won. Colorado is the next worst state, and without Colorado, he doesn't have 270. Hence Colorado brings him to 270.

The thing is, most people associate Ohio with Obama's 2012 win. It's pretty cool that you know the specifics on Colorado and it's significance (which I didn't even know about), but barely anyone besides Nate Silver knows CO is the tipping point state and Ohio technically went into the record books as the 270 state.

[Attorney General & PPT Dwarven Dragon]

What about Ohio? We were the state that put her husband over 270 in 2012, after all.

Obama would've won without Ohio

Yeah that was Colorado buddy

Nope, every station called Ohio to get Obama to 274. CO was the state that put Obama over 300 though IIRC.

She won't really run in Ohio though and I doubt she ends up running in IL, either. I'll still be optimistic for a future run by her, but Michelle isn't interested plus both these states, even though Democrats disagree with them on a lot of things, are Portman and Kirk, who are willing to work with Reid and the Obama's on a few issues every so often. She would probably much rather prefer taking out a Burr, Johnson or Rubio. Not to say she'll run in either of those states, either.

Not all stations, actually. At fox, the call of Ohio got Obama to 262. They essentially called the election then, but didn't show Obama over 270 until they called iowa and Oregon a couple minutes later.