Posted Date: June 18, 2008

Laura Bush Defends Michelle Obama From Partisan Mudslinging

By Eric Mayes
Special to the NNPA from the Philadelphia Tribune

PHILADELPHIA (NNPA)—It's not all partisan mudslinging in the presidential race as First Lady Laura Bush expressed her support for Michelle Obama, wife of the presumed Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
   Michelle Obama was criticized in February by Republicans for saying she was proud of the United States. However, Laura Bush said mistakes are common during the pressure of a campaign.
   “I think she probably meant ‘I’m more proud,’ you know, is what she really meant. You have to be very careful in what you say. Everything you say is looked at and in many cases, misconstrued,” Bush said in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Obama later clarified the remark.
    Meanwhile, Bush said she admired the “grit and strength” shown by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton during her hard-fought campaign. However, she would want to see a Republican woman as president, she said.
   “Of course I want the woman to be a Republican woman,” she said. “But I will say, I have watched the campaign and I admired Hillary’s grit and strength. I know what it’s like to run those campaigns and so I’ll have to say I have a lot of admiration for her endurance.”
   Making her third trip to Afghanistan recently, Bush will travel with her husband to Slovenia for his final U.S.-European Union Summit. He and his wife are also traveling to Germany, Italy, France, England and Northern Ireland.

 

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