Future shock? Sen. Michelle Obama, D-N.C.
Sources claim post-presidency home
purchased by president, first lady
Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama
WASHINGTON – Why is the first family buying a home in Asheville, North
Carolina? Do they like the weather there more than Hawaii?
Or could there be a
post-presidency political motivation for the Obamas similar to the one that saw
Bill and Hillary Clinton relocate to New
York?
At least one well-placed source –
and all kinds of scuttlebutt –suggests the latter. Residency in North
Carolina is a pre-requisite to the launch of Michelle Obama’s political career.
Specifically, the smart money
says, Michelle is likely to seek a Senate seat, the one currently held by
Republican Richard Burr, who is retiring in 2016.
Republicans believe Democrats will
want to run a high-profile candidate to try to capture the open seat – and who
could be higher than someone named Obama?
Now, sources are reporting the
Obamas are purchasing a home in Asheville,
N.C.
One source, for the Wall Street
Cheat Sheet, said the property being purchased is in Asheville, but the White House wasn’t
confirming anything yet.
The decision to pick Asheville is considered very telling by some GOP insiders,
because it is one of the few liberal strongholds left in North Carolina.
Barack Obama discussed retirement
there last year during his trip to North Carolina
during a speech in Asheville.
“Love coming to Asheville,” said Obama. “Michelle and I
always talk about how after this whole presidency thing, we’re looking for a
little spot to –” here an audience member said, “Come on down” — “Come on down?
Play a little golf, do a little hiking, fishing, barbecue,” said Obama.
“There’s two things that keep bringing me back here. Number one is I really
like the people. And number two is 12 Bones, which I will be stopping on the
way back to the airport.”
The Cheat Sheet noted that the
local Chamber of Commerce has been bragging about the Obamas for some time,
with an online posting saying, “Find out for yourself what makes the Asheville area a vacation
destination worthy of a president!”
That came after the White House
reported the Obamas were to spend one of their many vacations in that area.
The family also has repeatedly
vacationed in Hawaii,
at an expense to taxpayers of millions of dollars for air travel each way,
since they’ve been in the White House.
Last winter, taxpayers even paid
for a separate flight for Michelle Obama, who was given a few extra days to
relax over her 50th birthday there by her husband.
The Obamas have an extensive
background in Chicago,
but analysts have concluded that moving into a big pond like that may not be
their first choice.
Michelle Obama would not be the
first First Lady to follow the path to the Senate. After Bill Clinton left
office, the family bought a home in New
York from which Hillary Clinton launched a successful
Senate bid, which she followed with an unsuccessful presidential run in 2008.
She then served as Barack Obama’s
secretary of state until recently. She now appears to be preparing to announce
a presidential bid for 2016.
That Michelle Obama has higher aspirations
than a quiet, reclusive retirement is commonly reported. Just over the weekend,
commentator Jeff Crouere wrote at Canada Free Press, “Despite Barack Obama’s
disastrous record as president, there are many Democrat Party leaders in his
adopted home state in Illinois
who are longing for his wife to run for the U.S. Senate in 2016.
“They point to a 2012 Public
Polling Policy survey which showed Michelle Obama leading incumbent U.S.
Senator Mark Kirk, R-Illinois, by a comfortable 51-40 percent margin.”
He described Michelle Obama as
“not a shrinking violet” and noted her new, bolder profile.
“She has cultivated the media
spotlight since her husband’s election; however, her public profile has
recently reached a new level. Last month, she traveled to China on a
mission that drew international attention. She has also launched a Twitter
campaign to rescue the Nigerian school girls kidnapped by the Islamic terrorist
group Boko Haram.”
She’s also attacked Congress for
trying to make adjustments in the government-mandated school lunch program she
supported.
“By engaging her political
opponents in a high profile manner, Mrs. Obama is entering a more combative
phase. It seems she has an increasing interest in debating Republicans,
possibly signaling an interest in running as a candidate for public office,”
Crouere wrote.
“If she enters the race for U.S. Senate as First Lady, it will be a
tremendous advantage for Michelle Obama. She could raise millions of dollars
from liberals nationwide, while the media will fawn all over her. Sadly, she
shares the same poisonous liberal philosophy as her husband. She is a true
believer, who sat in the pews of the Trinity United Church of Christ as Rev.
Jeremiah Wright spewed his racist, anti-American sermons.”
North Carolina’s WCNC-TV in Charlotte even
speculated on the Obamas moving to North
Carolina as far back as early 2013, saying, “Who
knows, it could become his new home sometime down the road.”
ABC reported when the Obamas were
in Asheville preparing for the October 2008
presidential debate with Sen. John McCain and then vacationed in Asheville in 2010.
The report said, “For Obama, the
city also offers something else: a chance to appeal toe everyday families and
generate favorable publicity in a potential swing state” heading into the 2012
election.
For several days there has been
increased speculation about a senatorial bid by Michelle Obama.
Like Hillary Clinton, Michelle is
an attorney of some repute. She also served as assistant to the mayor of Chicago in the early
1990s, as well as an assistant commissioner of planning and development for the
city.
After running the Chicago
branch of the nonprofit Public Allies, which gets young people engaged in
nonprofit and government leadership, Obama moved to the University of Chicago,
eventually rising to be vice president of the university’s extensive hospitals
network.
There has been speculation recently
about a run in Illinois
in 2016 for the seat held by Republican Mark Kirk. He suffered a stroke in
2012.
Reuters reported that if Michelle
Obama won a Senate bid, “She would quickly become the most recognizable face in
the Senate. Her fame and fundraising ability would command deference in a body
that normally operates on seniority.”
Barack Obama has denied rumors
that his wife was going to run for public office. In an interview for Live with
Michael and Kelly, for instance, the President told host Kelly Ripa, “One thing
I can promise you is Michelle will not run for office.”
In August last year, Michelle flat
out denied rumors that she might run for the presidency.
North
Carolina Senate
Kay
Hagan was a senator for the North
Carolina Senate, is a senator for the NC
congressional delegation, a U.S.
Senate senator, and an honorary co-chair for the Third Way.
Note: Thomas R. Carper
is a senator for the DE congressional
delegation, a U.S. Senate
senator, and an honorary co-chair for the Third
Way.
Christopher
Coons is a member of the DE
congressional delegation, a U.S.
Senate senator, and an honorary co-chair for the Third Way.
Claire
McCaskill is a senator for the MO congressional delegation, a U.S. Senate senator, and an honorary
co-chair for the Third Way.
Jeanne
Shaheen is a senator for the NH
congressional delegation, a U.S.
Senate senator, and an honorary co-chair for the Third Way.
Mark
Udall is a member of the CO
congressional delegation, a U.S.
Senate senator, and an honorary co-chair for the Third Way.
William
M. Daley is a trustee at the Third Way,
a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, and was the chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration.
R.
Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin
LLP, and is an advocate for the ONE
Campaign.
Susan
McCue was the founding president & CEO for the ONE Campaign, and is a trustee at the Third Way.
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP.
Newton
N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
James S.
Crown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a trustee
at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Lester Crown
is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a lifetime
trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think
tank), and the International Rescue
Committee.
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Sidney
Harman was a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and
married to Jane Lakes Harman.
Jane Lakes Harman
was married to Sidney Harman, is a
trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and her son is Brian L. Frank.
Brian
L. Frank is Jane Lakes Harman’s son, and a trustee at the Third
Way.
William D.
Budinger is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a
trustee at the Third Way.
Reynold
Levy was an advisory board member for the Aspen Institute (think tank),
a trustee at the Third Way,
and is an overseer at the International
Rescue Committee.
Georgette F.
Bennett is an overseer at the International
Rescue Committee, and a trustee at the Third Way.
ONE
Campaign is a partner with the International
Rescue Committee.
Michelle
Obama is an advocate for the ONE
Campaign, and was a lawyer at Sidley
Austin LLP.
Susan
McCue was the founding president & CEO for the ONE Campaign, and is a trustee at the Third Way.
David
B. Heller is a trustee at the Third Way,
and a director at the Acumen Fund.
Michael E.
Novogratz is a trustee at the Third Way,
and a director at the Acumen Fund.
Andrea
Soros is a director at the Acumen
Fund, and George Soros’s
daughter.
George
Soros is Andrea Soros’s father, the
founder & chairman for the Open
Society Foundations, was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and a supporter for the Center for American Progress.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Center for American Progress, and the Atlantic Council of the United
States (think tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Center for American Progress, the New America Foundation, the Urban
Institute (think tank), and the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Jennifer M.
Palmieri was the SVP for the Center
for American Progress, the national press secretary for the Democratic National Committee (DNC),
and is the communications director, assistant to the president for the Barack Obama administration.
Peter
B. Lewis was a director at the Center
for American Progress, and a trustee at the Third Way.
Kirk
A. Radke is a director at the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank), and a trustee at the Third Way.
Bernard L.
Schwartz was a funder & director for the New America Foundation, and is a trustee at the Third Way.
Julian H. Robertson
Jr. was invited to George Soros’s
2013 wedding reception, Akin, Gump,
Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP was his lobby firm, and his sister is Wyndham Robertson.
Wyndham
Robertson is Julian H. Robertson Jr’s
sister, and was a VP for the University
of North Carolina System.
Erskine B. Bowles
was the president for the University of
North Carolina System, and is a trustee at the Urban Institute (think tank).
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is a life trustee
at the Urban Institute (think tank),
a senior counsel for Akin, Gump,
Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), Valerie B.
Jarrett’s great uncle, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Cyrus F.
Freidheim Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Valerie B. Jarrett
is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, the senior
adviser for the Barack Obama administration,
and a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago.
William
M. Daley is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, a trustee at the Third Way,
and was the chief of staff for the Barack
Obama administration.
Susan
McCue is a trustee at the Third Way,
and was the founding president & CEO for the ONE Campaign.
Michelle
Obama is an advocate for the ONE
Campaign, and was a lawyer at Sidley
Austin LLP.
Kathleen
Brown is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, the California
state government governor Jerry
Brown’s sister, was the California state government treasurer, and an attorney
at O'Melveny & Myers LLP.
Ronald A. Klain
was a partner at O'Melveny & Myers
LLP, the chief of staff to the vice president for the Barack Obama administration, and is a trustee at the Third
Way.
Zoe
Baird was a partner at O'Melveny
& Myers LLP, is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and married to William D. Budinger.
William D.
Budinger is married to Zoe Baird,
a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a trustee at the Third
Way.
Kay
Hagan is an honorary co-chair for the Third Way,
a senator for the NC congressional
delegation, a U.S. Senate
senator, and was a senator for the North
Carolina Senate.
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