Organizing for America

Fact Check on Email Smears Regarding Michelle Obama

RHETORIC: Michelle Obama Made An Unpatriotic Remarks That She Recently Grew Proud Of America

REALITY: Michelle Obama Was Expressing Pride In The Political Process, Has "Absolutely" Always Been Proud Of America

Michelle Obama Explained Her Remarks, Saying That Her Pride Was In The Political Process And That She Was "Absolutely" Always Proud Of America. The New York Times reported, "Asked today to clarify the remark by a local news station in Rhode Island, which holds its primary during the next round, on March 4, she said, 'What I was clearly talking about was that I'm proud in how Americans are engaging in the political process,' according to the Associated Press. 'For the first time in my lifetime, I'm seeing people rolling up their sleeves in a way that I haven't seen and really trying to figure this out -- and that's the source of pride that I was talking about.' She added that she has 'absolutely' always felt proud of her country and that she and her husband owed where they are today to America's possibilities." [New York Times, 2/21/08]

FULL QUOTE: Michelle Obama said, "What we have learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback. And let me tell you something--for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment. I've seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic common issues, and it's made me proud." [New York Times, 2/19/08]

Obama Said His Wife Was Saying She Was "Proud Of The Politics Of America." The AP reported, "Barack Obama, interviewed on WOAI radio in San Antonio, Texas, expressed frustration that his wife's comments became political fodder. 'Statements like this are made and people try to take it out of context and make a great big deal out of it, and that isn't at all what she meant,' Obama said. 'What she meant was, this is the first time that she's been proud of the politics of America,' he said. 'Because she's pretty cynical about the political process, and with good reason, and she's not alone. But she has seen large numbers of people get involved in the process, and she's encouraged.'" [AP, 2/20/08]

Obamas Take Pride In America Because In No Other Country Is Their Story Possible. Bill Burton, an Obama campaign spokesman, reiterated a statement issued yesterday, saying Mrs. Obama's words were taken out of context. "Of course Michelle is proud of her country, which is why she and Barack talk constantly about how their story wouldn't be possible in any other nation on Earth. What she meant is that she's really proud at this moment because for the first time in a long time, thousands of Americans who've never participated in politics before are coming out in record numbers to build a grassroots movement for change." [New York Times, 2/19/08]

RHETORIC: Michelle Obama's Princeton Thesis Is Restricted until After the Election

REALITY: Michelle Obama's Thesis Is Public

Obama Campaign "Quickly" Responded To A Request For Michelle Obama's Thesis. Politico reported, "The Obama campaign, however, quickly responded to a request for the thesis by Politico." [Politico, 2/22/08]

RHETORIC: Michelle Obama's Thesis Relies on "Separationism" Terminology Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton Introduced

REALITY: Michelle Obama Did Not Say She Was "Much Influenced" By The Definition Of Separationism Offered By Carmichael And Hamilton But That She Was Using Their Definition In Her Study

The Thesis Used Carmichael And Hamilton's Definition Of Black Separationism In Her Study But Did Not Suggest She Was "Influenced" By It. Michelle Obama wrote in her thesis, "Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton's (1967) developed definitions of separationism in their discussion of Black Power which guided me in the formulation and use of this concept in the study…Thus, Carmichael and Hamilton define separationism as a necessary stage for the development of the Black community before this group integrates into the "open society". The idea of creating separate social structure and cultural structures as suggested by these authors serves to clarify definitions of separationism/pluralism as they function in the dependent variable which tries to measure the 26 respondents' ideologies concerning political and economic relations between the Black and White communities." [Michelle Obama's Thesis]

RHETORIC: The Obamas Still Have Outstanding College Loans

REALITY: The Obamas Have Paid Off Their Student Loans

2008: Barack Obama Said They Paid Off Their Student Debt Five Years Ago. Obama said, "Five years ago we had just finished paying off our student loans...we hadn't been able to set up a college fund for our kids, we had some credit-card [debt] outstanding, we were living in a condo too small for our two kids, I was going grocery shopping, and she was going to Target. She still goes to Target." [Salon, 1/1/08]