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Barack Obama has taken the country by storm with his positive campaign and uplifting message. In two recent speeches on the campaign trail, his wife Michelle Obama spoke about how proud she was that so many people were coming out vote, and in these speeches, she uttered the now famous lines, "For the first time in my life I am proud of my country." Some political pundits argue that Michelle Obama is not the one running for president and that her words were simply a political gaff and were taken out of context. But the quote has left others to speculate about Obama's patriotism, and some believe that she could be a liability to her husband's candidacy if he is the Democratic nominee in the general election.

While most people agree that targeting a candidate's family is wrong, many feel that the spouses of candidates are not completely off limits. After all, Michelle Obama could potentially be the future first lady, which means that she would be in the public eye. (Just think of how people looked at Eleanore Roosevelt and Jackie Kennedy.) And whether this type of scrutiny is right or wrong, it should be understood that Obama and all of the other candidate's families realize that they are being watched and scrutinized, and they have a responsibility to themselves, as well as a responsibility to the American people to watch what they say and to be prepared to explain themselves and to accept the consequences when and if they say things that are out of line.

One could argue that Obama simply misspoke in an off the cuff remark, and that under a lot of pressure anyone can make a mistake. However, it should be remembered that each campaign has speech writers, and the speeches are carefully edited and rehearsed. Furthermore this particular remark was made twice at two separate events. Certainly it was a political gaff, and it should have been spotted before the speeches were delivered, but since the line has been said, Obama is now facing the consequences.

Some argue that Michelle Obama's statement was taken out of context, and that she was really referring to the fact that voter turnout has been so low in the past, or that she has been dissatisfied with the Democratic candidates and the whole political process in the past twenty-five years. However, if this is what she meant, then maybe she should have said, "I'm proud of the high voter turnout," and left it at that, but the fact is, that is not what she said. And in a lot of other countries (including the United States

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