Michelle Obama Out as POTUS Candidate

Not that this information will settle anything around water coolers, comments sections, or the conservative commentariat, but Michelle Obama's office has announced that she will not run for president, at least not during this election cycle. You may have some phone calls to make, depending on how you bet. If you're in an office pool for who will be the Democratic presidential nominee, now would be a good time to reorganize your bracket. It is likely still anybody's ballgame, depending on how fast and how far Biden craters in the next month or so.

NBC News reported early Tuesday that Barack Obama is solidly behind Biden in his bid for a second term. His wife's potential candidacy was the ultimate dream for many on the Left and the stuff of nightmares for many on the Right. The topic of a Michelle Obama presidential run has made for good fodder on many conservative websites and talk shows and has undoubtedly had more than a few Republicans reaching for an antacid.

Obama's office issued the following statement to the network:

As former First Lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president. Mrs. Obama supports President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ re-election campaign.

Obama intends to lend a hand with the Biden campaign and give the president a boost in terms of credibility and marquee value. As his base sags, Biden's campaign desperately needs the shot in the arm, and NBC theorized that Obama might play a more visible role in the later stages of the campaign to woo swing voters.

It might have been an easy win for the Democrats, as Obama would have evoked fond memories from her husband's two terms and energized an increasingly disillusioned voter base. President Michelle Obama would have likely carried on with the present policies of the Biden administration, which many label as the 2.0 version of Barack Obama's presidency. But she would have projected the confidence, organization, poise, and presence of mind that have all been consistently missing from Biden's term. Of course, Biden was presented as the rational alternative to Donald Trump, and look what we ended up with.

Most conservatives never believed that Obama would run, as appealing as her candidacy may look to those on the Left. She spent eight years in the White House watching her husband's presidency and is not likely to give up her opulent lifestyle to dive head-first into politics.

This raises the question of who will be thanking everyone for the nod when the DNC has its convention. Will it be Newson? Harris? Chances are, it will be Biden, depending on whether or not he can hold up that long. Then there is the issue of Harris stepping in once Biden collapses. And that collapse is practically inevitable.

A source close to Obama said that her camp has not ruled out public office in the future. The story cites a 2020 interview with Jill Biden who was queried as to whether or not Obama would make a good vice presidential candidate. Biden opined that Obama had "had it with politics." Obama's office reportedly contacted her and told her what she should say if the subject was broached in the future:

New talking points that Obama’s office proposed would affirm that she would be great at anything she chose to do and say that she was a terrific first lady and that the Biden team is grateful for the work she’s doing at When We All Vote, according to the people familiar with the matter. They said the response was crafted to not make it sound as though Obama would never hold public office, which the former first lady’s aides thought Jill Biden did in her CNN interview.
“It doesn’t close the door,” a person familiar with the drafting of the new statement said, “and that’s what prompted Michelle’s office to call.”

What office that would be is anyone's guess. A legislative run could certainly be in the works. And when it becomes impossible to ignore the fact that Joe Biden is no longer fit to serve, Obama would be a more appealing replacement than Harris.

All of this is pure speculation, but with the Democratic Party, every day is "Anything Can Happen Day."