Thank you for adding your voice and perspective to this inspiring community of women. I look forward to your posts. Thanks for also being such a strong, positive role model (just the way you are) for myself, my daughters, all women.

Yes we can! Obama '08!

Stefania Pomponi Butler

So glad to have you join the BlogHer community, Michelle! I hope you will use this blog as a platform for personal expression, not just underlining the feminine aspects of the campaign. Many of us are very interested in your unique experience and hearing about it helps us learn to trust you and your husband as people.

May I suggest you look to Elizabeth Edwards a model for achieving the delicate balance between openness and privacy. I don't agree with her on everything, but have been impressed with how well she "gets" the Internet.

By the way, I just recently learned that you and Barack were involved in founding Public Allies Chicago. I was in the founding class of Public Allies North Carolina ('95)!

We're thrilled to have you blogging here at BlogHer.

You really hit home for me when you wrote, "We talk about what it’s like to play multiple roles at once and what it’s like to feel stretched thin between the demands of a career and family."

Covering your husband's campaign and Senator McCain's has offered me amazing opportunities, but also tugs at me when I leave my 3-year old and 5-year old at home.

Welcome Michelle, I'm glad to have yet another voice here at BlogHer that I can identify with.

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

I'm so glad you're blogging, and that you're posting here!

I agree with you about keeping women's issues in the mix. And also, making sure women's voices are heard loud and clear in politics, on all issues.

-----------------
Liz Henry
lizzard@bookmaniac.net
Contributing Editor, World and Latin America

Hi Ms. Obama.

First, I think you're going to like this :

The presumptive First Lady Of the United States (get used to it)

http://www.culturekitchen.com/liza/image/the_presumptive_first_lady_of_t...

 So many people have told me they love that image it's ridiculous. 

 Second, thanks for being here. It was tough trying to wrangle any of the primary candidates or spouses last year. Am glad your here today.

Third, I hope your communications director is open to you having a either a conference call or chat  with the top Latina political bloggers in the country. None of us, unfortunately, couldn't make it to BlogHer this year. We are also part of The Sanctuary group [ http://thesanctuary.soapblox.com ] that released a questionnaire to all the presidential candidate, including Senator Obama, and which has gone unanswered for well over a month by both front-runners.

We are :
Vivir Latino (Maegan Ortiz)

Latina Lista (Marisa Treviño) 

Progressive Christians (Kety Esquivel)

The Sanctuary (Dreamer and Sylvia)

culturekitchen (Liza Sabater)

We would love to be able to talk to you (and eventually your husband) by the time of the convention (Meagan and I will be there) or before the elections.  And we are more than happy to include other of our political blogging sisters from other parts of the blogosphere.

Enjoy yourself if you're hanging out at BlogHer. Make sure you meet Shireen Mi of Digital Sistas and Maria Niles of ConsumerPop.

Whatever you do, watch out for that Erin Kotecki-Vest.  She's a handful :)

 Cheers and bienvenida, 

Liza Sabater, Publisher

http://culturekitchen.com

http://dailygotham.com

Thank you for taking the time to blog, Michelle. I look forward to more of your insights!

Stagekid's Dissertation on Disillusionment:
http://www.stagekid.com

Hi Michelle,

Welcome to a great site - I hope you are able to check in during the Summer and Fall campaign.

While I'm male and unemployed (looking for a fun gig that pays me too much), I'm glad you mention reaching out to working women across America and thinking about the juggling act we all need to play in our lives. From reading a few articles (I actually liked the New Yorker profile) and braodcast interviews, I find it incredibly reassuring that you are in a great position to be our next First Lady. I have no other description to share other than "You get it."

By the way, I heard about your addition to this site from @QueenofSpain (above in comments) on Twitter. I'm wondering if you might try that micro-blogging platform or do some of your own posts at www.utterz.com or even TalkShoe or BlogTalkRadio?

Warm wishes, I vote, Adam

http://www.utterz.com/AdamZand/r-1

http://twitter.com/NoOneYouKnow

Awesome to see you here.

And a great post......keep em coming.....let's make big changes in the world!!!

Look for me at http://crunchycarpets.com or check out the ladies at www.wetcoastwomen.com

Welcome Michelle. Hold your head up high in this campaign! Looking forward to your blog here at Blogher We have a blog for Baby Boomers.

http://www.Vaboomer.com

Nancy Mehegan

Virginia Cornue

VABOOMER

Welcome to a great group of writers and people.  We couldn't be more thrilled to have you sitting by our fire. 

 Jen http://droolstreet.blogspot.com  one plus two

Mrs. Obama, I cannot tell you how stoked I am to see you here. This is the perfect place to share your thoughts with a community of informed women. I'm delighted to say you're one of us :)

I'm sorry you couldn't make it to our conference this week, but hey -- maybe you'll feel like coming next year (you may want a break from all that White House stuff).

Donna Schwartz Mills

http://www.SocalMom.com

http://www.MOMocrats.com

http://www.LAMomsblog.com

http://svmomblog.typepad.com/50somethingmoms

http://www.careerkids.typepad.com

It's wonderful to see you blogging here, Michelle. Looking forward to reading more from you (and perhaps your daughters too??) and working for change together. :) 

Amy
Crunchy Domestic Goddess
BlogHers Act contributing editor

Michelle, welcome to our community. You will find it is different than many political blogs in that we generally have a reasoned, cordial dialogue here and we help pull each other up when things get tough.

We all appreciate your willingness to take even more time out of your busy schedule to be here, and we look forward to hearing more about what you think needs to be done about important issues for women and families, like the environment and education.

Thank you for adding your unique voice to BlogHer.

Sarah Granger, at FutureCampaigns, The Huffington Post "Off the Bus", MOMocrats, BlogHer & the Silicon Valley Moms Blog

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule time to blog, and to visit BlogHer. I look forward to hearing more from you as a woman, a parent, a potential first lady and now a blogger.   

Sincerely,

Michelle

Welcome to BlogHer, Michelle! I think you'll find that this is an amazing, respectful and challenging community with whom to have conversations.

I hear much of my life story in both the stories of your growing up and Barack's. Thank you for sharing those stories of tests and strength. As a black woman I know it is incredibly powerful for us and the children to hear. Thank you.

ConsumerPop Marketing
PopConsumer (Politics, Current Events & Links)
Beyond Help (Music, TV & Pop Culture)

When I first saw your post, I thought, "Michelle Obama? Really?" And I was absolutely delighted to find out that yes, really, it's you posting here at BlogHer. Thank you for your great post; I look forward to more of them.

The Blog: Red Nose The Book: Girl Clown

Hi Michelle,

I'm a strong supporter of your husband and am busy getting everyone in my family and community to vote for him this November. As great as it'll be to say the words "President Obama" in January 2009, it's icing on the cake to think about you and your daughters as First Lady and First Kids in the White House!

Thanks to you and your family for taking the leap into public life as a side effect of Barack's public service. As you say, time away from our kids is hard, but worth it if it makes the world they'll inherit a better place.

Keep rocking your fantastic self--you've got a lot of fans out there.

Warmly,

Cynematic

P i l l o w b o o k

MOMocrats

Michelle -

Thank you from me, and my daughter. I'm stealing a chance to tell you something that my daughter said.  She is almost 10, and this is the first presidential election she has followed - obviously.  She was an Obama supporter long before I was, while I was still on the fence. But we had great talks she and I about everyone running and what they were saying and the world we wanted to live in.  It was historic, really, but very personal, to realize that my daughter's first election was, to her, between a black man and a woman. I've been in awe of that. When I told her how important that was to me, she just laughed and said, "Jeesh mom, they're just people!" 

I cried.  "MOM!" I'm sorry, it's a big deal. But when I asked her why she was such a strong Obama supporter, she said it was because he made her feel good. In discussion, it turned out that she meant that when she hears him speak, she feels hopeful, like she wants to do better, she feels inspired.  I told her that I wasn't sure that was enough of a reason to vote for someone. She reminded me that I always tell her that if you BELIEVE you can do something, than you can, and that when you make people feel good, they are more willing to help you. She informed that that's what he does. Her contention was that inspiring us all to believe we can make a better world, and making us ALL part of the process was, in fact, good enough.

I love it when my baby girl makes things that simple, and that right.

But what really won her over, apparently, were you and your daughters.  "They look like they could be our friends, ya know?" Um hm. I do know.

Welcome in to our lives Michelle. Thank you for just being one of us. Amazing it took a 10 year old to make it clear how much that means, but it does.....

Thank you.  

____________

Alyssa Royse

Just Cause It: A Web Site To Save The World

Start Her Up: A Blog for Women Entrepreneurs

Michelle,

 Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with us.  I really appreciate the sacrifices that your family is making for our country.  I hope you find blogging and connecting with women in this forum and through this medium rewarding. 

Can I send you one of our "Powerful Blogger Lady" t-shirts or hats, compliments of MOMocrats?  I can change it to "Powerful Blogger FIRST Lady" for you :)

Cheers,

Glennia

Co-Founder & Managing Editor, MOMocrats.com

I'll be honest. It was an awkward post. I'm sure that future posts will improve. Readers, men and women both, don't really want to be taken advantage of for the sake of pushing a political agenda, in my opinion. I know that that separation can be difficult so I'm sure most people, myself included, will be graceful about the post.

I think it's great that BlogHer has access to you, Michelle. I'm confident that the access will be rewarded immensely, not only in November, but beyond. Well done in engaging this community and I'll be reading.

Hi Michelle,

It's such a pleasure to welcome you to BlogHer.com! I think you nailed something important here, when you say you're

"often feeling like when I’m with the kids, I’m shortchanging work, and when I’m at work or campaigning, I'm shortchanging the kids"

No kidding. My mother warned me, when my son was born, that each child would come with a bucket of guilt. "But remember," she told me, "how proud he is going to be of you someday for continuing to do what you do and being all that you are."

Amen. The comments here thus far are an important indicator of what your work in this election means to many, many women. And while your daughters are younger, I can confirm Mom's prediction came true when my son turned 12: He's actually proud of me, for what that's worth. :)

This is why I love blogging. In the case of moms who blog, you're talking about a constituency for whom the Internet and our blogs are a lifeline -- we expected to have to silence our own voices in order to give our children theirs. But this technology has set us free in the few minutes we have each day. And that may go double for the millions women who blog who are NOT moms!

Look forward to continuing the conversation.

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

P.S. Note to the community: As you know, BlogHer is a non-partisan organization. We have extended the same invitation to Cindy McCain, wife of presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Az.)

It's wonderful that you are willing to reach out to women via BlogHer. In this day and age, anything that provides open access is valuable.

I'm interested in health care issues. That's access to health care, not necessarily access to health insurance. I'm a committed Democrat, there's nothing undecided about my vote. However I do look closely at health care programs and hope for a good long-term solution.

Virginia DeBolt
BlogHer Technology Contributing Editor
Web Teacher
First 50 Words

Michelle,

I am SO excited to see you here. I love to hear you speak about your daily lives and frankly, it makes me feel even more confident in Barack to know that he has such an intelligent and confident partner in crime as yourself.

We all struggle with balancing work and kids - and well, it certainly teaches us all to listen more and rely on your community. I'm glad to see you are becoming parr of this one.

On another note, we share a connection - I was also a Public Allies Executive Director in Silicon Valley (shortly after you left the Chicago office) - small world! I love that your husband has been discussing an expansion of AmeriCorps and funding social service agencies. whew! We could really use it.

Thanks for all of your personal sacrificies and look forward to seeing more of you here!

Sheila Bernus Dowd

http://www.xiaolinmama.com

http://www.momocrats.com

http://SVmomsblog.com

Michelle, thank you for taking the time from what must be an insane schedule to share your thoughts in this great forum.  To have women's voices heard is VERY important and the fact that you are taking time to speak "with us" instead of "at us" is a fine example of the change we really do need to see in this country.  As BlogHer so beautifully exhibits, community and connection is what it is all about.

Looking forward to reading more of what you have to say!

Warmly
_Paula

Paula Gregorowicz
The Paula G Company

www.thepaulagcompany.com
www.coaching4lesbians.com

Thrilled that you're here. I love that you've referred to this forum as a national virtual roundtable and look forward to seeing how you will participate in it. I hope you will feel encouraged to share your experiences here, since those of us who are supporting Barack are also supportive of your journey in this process.

As a former Virgin Islander, glad that your family found it to be a welcoming place when you needed a break from the campaign. John and Cecile deJongh are good people and I'm glad they've been so supportive of Barack's campaign.

MarilynM at Twitter

Co-Founder of Bloggers for Darfur

Very exciting to see you here and looking forward to hearing more.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

I'm thrilled to see you blogging here, Mrs. Obama! I'm particularly interested in hearing what you have to say and am keen to see which women's issues you will broach next.

-Kirsten

www.eyefulofcanon.com

I cannot begin to express the depth of my appreciation for you and your husband.  After so many years of being told that we are not allowed to be part of the dialogue, of being ignored - our desperation for change is like the thirst you feel after a draught.  Thank you: for the sacrifice you and your family is making so that we Americans might once again have hope. 

I look forward to reading more from you here at Blogher. 

Kady

Momocrats
Loaded Dice

Michelle,

I've enjoyed your post and look forward to reading more of your thoughts. 

They are working hard and playing by the rules, doing the most
important job of raising the next generation, but somehow can never get
ahead.They’re desperate for change.

I understand this sentiment all to well. As a teacher with three boys at home, I  struggle to figure out how to meet my oldest's sons need as he goes off to college in a few months.  We've saved and pinched pennies knowing that an education was so important, but the reality of rising gas costs, medical care, tuition, elderly parents who need our help now and two children at home who have needs as well is causing a good deal of stress in our home. Yet we're lucky in many ways.

He did his part to make the grades to make it to a large university, and now we're doing ours sending him away and just praying something happens to keep us from having to borrow money to send him.   My heart breaks for those who can't, and for their children and for the future of this country if this trend of rising costs and struggling families doesn't end.

Thanks for taking the time to let us here your thoughts.

Doris

The Leaky Cauldron

Welcome to BlogHer, Michelle! I'm new here, too, so I'm glad to see what an impact this site has on the world around us. Best of luck with the campaign - I look forward to your upcoming posts, and hopefull you'll give us some insight into what it's like for you and your family on the campaign trail.

Elizabeth Baker

Half Baked, Twice as Good 

Hi Michelle,

I'm new to BlogHer myself and am grateful to have found this type of community.

I was surprised to see your post and can tell you that my husband is an avid supporter of your husband.

I wish I could be as enthusiastic about the political process in general but I'm too worried to be enthusiastic. I fear for this country. I'm worried what kind of country will be left for our children. I'm worried over whether my husband and I will be able to retire and live comfortably after having worked for so long. I'm more worried about a long-term illness than I am of death because of the financial devastation it can wreak. And I'm worried that we won't be able to afford to fill up our gas tank pretty soon and that if a better, more fuel efficient car comes on the market, that we won't be able to afford that either.

I'm worried that we're going to be living between a rock and a hard place.

I am hoping that your husband can lead us to a brighter future. I am hoping that I won't worry so much come next January.

Andrea

The Creative Junkie

http://www.thecreativejunkie.com

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us here. I for one was moved by your words, as I have so often been by your husband's.

Nina Moon

http://www.charlieandnina.com

As a Canadian, I've been watching the US election process with interest. I'm so glad to hear your voice here at BlogHer. 

Visit my blogs at ThreeSeven (all that's irrelevant and amusing) and
ecochick (all that's green, cool and Canadian).

I have two daughters, and have owned a business since before most women were in the workforce. I look to Barack for real leadership and consensus-building again in our country.

I don't think it's his current position on any specific issue (those will change) that matters as much as the ability to make informed leadership decisions and build global consensus. Please don't let the atmosphere of the campaign undermine your husband's idealism! After all, if you're going to "sacrifice" your privacy and that of your daughter's to this undertaking, it should at least be worth your while.

Francine Hardaway, Ph.D
"It's not what happens to you; it's how you come to it."
http://blog.stealthmode.com

Hello Mrs. Obama,

It was indeed very refreshing to join blogher today in an attempt to reach out and become a part of a forum....and then to find my first post read as a member from you!

I am a 45 year-old teacher, wife, and mother of 3 with a Master's Degree plus many, many extra graduate hours.  After 23 years of teaching, I have literally served close to thousands of our nation's children.  Although I staunchly advocate democracy and take every possible opportunity to vote, I must admit that, as I age, I find the whole political process extremely daunting....kind of like a strange reality show.  I'm never quite sure what is "real" and what is staged or spun for a political audience.

I'm watching both candidates very carefully for this political campaign. I am officially among the group of "undecideds" in your polls.  I switched political affiliations in the primaries to vote for your husband, but I'm torn for the "real deal" in November.  We desperately need change, but I fear for your husband's fresh new face....kind of like sending a 5 year-old to school....will he be prepared for the "evil" lurking out there in the world?  Will he recognize it?  Will he be able to handle it?

At any rate, having your post here brings you and your husband one step closer to reality.  You are in my home right now, at my kitchen table, with "Jungle Book" playing in the background for my 2 year-old and my teens in the basement drywalling (hopefully).  I think as a woman, I feel the need for a candidate to move past the traditional rhetoric, and to reach out to us as people and show us how to build a future for our children in this country, as my parents did for me.  Our parents were stakeholders; they felt they made a difference and that their voice mattered.  Me? Not so much. 

But I'm still searching.

Thank you!

"People may not remember what you say or do....but they will always remember how you made them feel...."

Dear Michelle,

It's a pleasure to get your insight here on Blogher! I can't believe I even have the pelasure of reading your words! First on the agenda, your husband will have my families vote. Please, please follow him on women's rights issues and the health policies of this country. We are in serious need of attention.

You may log onto www.debbieraymondpinet.com to view excellent reads titled Tales of a Housewife and Before I Became a Housewife. If you find the time to do so, you'll find the books an excellent women's/family read!!

Bless you you and your family 

It's so great to have you with us.  As one of the older members of this remarkable community, I've been around long enough to understand what a treasure the power, warmth and energy that informs BlogHer really is.  It doesn't emerge often and it's great to see you recognize what a vision its three founders really had.

Of course, living with a community organizer gives you a leg up on that, but it's also gratifying to hear you speak as a mother of daughters.  I've raised two sons who are great partners for the women in their lives and am convinced that the examples we (that's the collective we) set are the home base from which our children grow or, as one of my friends says, "unfurl."  And of course, having BlogHer be part of that example is a source of pride to all of us who have found such a wonderful home here.  So welcome home to you, too.

Cynthia Samuels, PartnerCobblestone Associates, LLPBlog and Media Strategies and Content Development Online and on Television   

Don’tGel Too Soon

It's wonderful to see you posting here on blogher!

What I'd like to hear about now is healthcare. Only because I've had two mandatory surgeries in the last eight months and I have no healthcare coverage. It has been even more stressful to wonder how the dollars will add up and when they will stop adding up. There are many many people in this country that are in this position. It has ruined families and people have even died needlessly because they have no coverage.

I'd love to hear about Barack's and your views on this issue and whether or not these views are flexible.

There's always hope for change ...

I hope you will continue to post throughout the campaign season and beyond!

Kimberly Kradel
Producer/Editor
artist-at-large.com