AIBU to think Melania Trump is quite impressive, in a way?

[Defenbaker]

It can't be easy being married to a man like Donald Trump, and it can't be easy being in the public eye so much, but Melania Trump seems to take it all in her stride.
She is always immaculate in her appearance, and always looks so poised and calm, that I can't help being a bit impressed by the way she handles her role.

I realise she's probably had work done, and maybe she's a slave to botox, but I think she is quite striking and beautiful. Just one thing though - I wish she'd stop wearing the stupidly high heels - all her shoes seems to have 6inch heels and sometimes she looks a bit unsteady, especially when negotiating steps.

I'm not keen on her husband, but AIBU to think MT is doing a good job of being First Lady?

I am impressed by Michelle Obama. A black woman from a working class family who attended Harvard, became a lawyer and was a fantastic First Lady. Now that’s impressive
It is impressive but I don't see why it's important. Did we analyse the impressiveness of Philip May or Denis Thatcher? Why does every famous woman have to be a role model? Why does every sports star have to be a 'role model'? I'm sick of it

Michele is held up as an inspiration and does visit schools and talk about her own experience. She has experience and inspiration to offer.
But I just don't care

He could have shot women in the pussy but many Americans (both men and women) don’t believe a woman should / could be president.

But again - more voters believed a women should be President, given that Hillary got nearly 2.9 million more votes than Trump.

The Electoral College system scuppered that.

The fact that you don't personally care doesn't make the election of Obama, with his black wife as First Lady representing the country and the president at home and abroad less significant in the US, derxa.

This was a huge watershed for African Americans, and especially for middle class African American women, who regardless of income and education are not privileged in American society.

I can't find the exact quote, but someone once commented that the late Gwen Ifill was the cleaning woman masquerading as a journalist.

Tropes run deep in popular consciousness.
nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/popular-and-pervasive-stereotypes-african-americans

Aderyn19 Wed 11-Dec-19 09:04:10
I really don't care.

Don't let the facts get in the way of your opinions then.

The fact that you don't personally care doesn't make the election of Obama, with his black wife as First Lady representing the country and the president at home and abroad less significant in the US, derxa.
But I loved Obama. His wife wasn't elected.

Math, hardly anybody should have voted for Trump, given what they knew about him prior to the election. That so many did, in preference to HC, reflects really badly on her. The fact is that even after the pussy grabbing tape, she still wasn't considered a safer pair of hands by all those people who voted for Trump instead. They can't all be misogynist racists!

Derxa His wife was black, and therefore extremely significant for African American women, who occupy an unenviable position in the American imaginary. It's not a question of elected vs unelected.

Sneer all you like at the idea that a 'First Lady' is in any way significant, but a black woman as First Lady was huge because it challenged all the negative perceptions of black women.

Racism runs incredibly deep. She was publicly called 'an ape in heels', and a 'monkey face'.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/colorado-doctor-michelle-obama-monkey-face-ape-in-heels-racial-slur-disciplined-michelle-herren-a7450016.html
This is just the tip of a really big iceberg.

Aderyn, they actually are all misogynists and racists, sadly.

Sneer all you like at the idea that a 'First Lady' is in any way significant, but a black woman as First Lady was huge because it challenged all the negative perceptions of black women. But I don't sneer. Why must a black woman have to strain every sinew to be best. Surely it would be better if Michelle was mediocre and completely accepted.

Aderyn, they actually are all misogynists and racists, sadly.

All 62 million?

All 62 million?

Give or take 100 000.

derxa
It is in fact her mere presence as First Lady that was significant.

Yes, Aderyn, by definition. They saw him campaign. They heard his speeches. He kept everyone well aware of his thoughts and feelings via Twitter. They were aware of his previous remarks about women and his real estate company's record of discrimination. They knew of his history of adultery. They went out and voted for him.

Let's say misogynists, racists or troglodytes, just to be on the safe side.

Math, hardly anybody should have voted for Trump, given what they knew about him prior to the election. That so many did, in preference to HC, reflects really badly on her.

It reflects really, really badly on each and every person who voted for him.

I agree that those who voted for Trump are culpable, in particular those who had the racist and misogynist strings ready for the pulling and who allowed those strings to be pulled in the key areas that Robert Mercer's social media manipulation targeted.

But I think it also reflects badly on her campaign. Running into a perfect storm of populism and misogyny was always going to be a challenge, and the Clinton campaign made some poor calls, in particular ignoring the mathematical implications of the Electoral College.
This was a contemporaneous article from just before the election in 2016. www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/us/politics/presidential-election.html

www.nytimes.com/2016/11/05/us/politics/jay-z-beyonce-clinton-voters.html
Reportage of a concert in Cleveland, a Hillary booster event.

I saw this on the news at the time and I had the sinking feeling that she should have been kissing babies and shaking hands with truck drivers in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

The campaign did not have its finger on the pulse of the places that mattered in a close race. Barack Obama had done concerts too, but he wasn't in close races.

Let me just remind people about voter suppression, which can affect results in close races.

Indeed.

As an example of possible suppression, Trump won Wisconsin by double the number of voters from Milwaukee County that seems to have disappeared between 2012 and 2016.

Though Clinton didn't have the appeal to African American voters that Obama had.

No

She's profiting from her marriage and doesn't want to leave cos of the money and fame. She clearly hates him and still stays. What is cool about that?

She has had wry public digs at critics of the US inprisoning child migrants among other things

She's a 100% piece of shit in heels and make up

There's nothing to look up to there

Math, I don't think you can say with any credibility that more than 62 million people in the USA are racist, misogynist troglodytes.
The Americans I know who voted for DT, did so because they felt HC was self serving and basically dishonest. Her campaign didn't help her to change that view by the time they had to vote. They weren't DT supporters but did perceive him to be looking out for American interest ahead of his own and an up front, if unlikeable person. They were also fed up of the idea that certain families have an entitlement to the presidency.
I think they were between a rock and a hard place and had to vote for someone. That they picked DT does imo reflect badly on HC because they thought she'd be more awful than him.

Just remembered, the people I know who voted DT were pissed off with Obama care, which they had to pay for but weren't eligible to use. These are people who are financially comfortable but not do comfortable that medical bills don't hurt them. I do think that had an impact on their choice.

The Americans I know who voted for DT, did so because they felt HC was self serving and basically dishonest.

If they didn't like Donald Trump they should have stayed home. Voting is not compulsory in the US. They didn't have to vote for anyone. That is your basic misunderstanding here.

But they trotted out to vote because something in his message resonated with them, whether it was the perceived pro-business leaning, or the 'drain the swamp' bullshit, or the promise to destroy the ACA ('Obamacare').

They chose to ignore the fact that his money made a huge difference to his campaign. They chose to ignore the unsavoury characters he hired to run it (Steve Bannon and others from the Right). They chose to ignore his notorious marital history. They chose to ignore flagrant examples of misogyny that came up during his campaign ('grab them by the pussy') and the open courting of racists (the KKK) and knee jerk reactionaries ('the poorly educated').

So yeah, racists, misogynists, and anyone outside of those categories who voted for him has to be a troglodyte.

It is clear from your post that neither you nor the Americans of your acquaintance know diddly squat about the ACA, Aderyn.

...pissed off with Obama care, which they had to pay for but weren't eligible to use.

The Americans I know who voted for DT, did so because they felt HC was self serving and basically dishonest.

You are actually saying this with a straight face?

FML.

The Americans I know who voted for DT, did so because they felt HC was self serving and basically dishonest

So, they were dumb or biased enough to believe Trump saying she was dishonest.
Are they Breitbart and Fox audience? Because that's the only way they wouldn't be aware of Trump's dishonesty in business. To mention a few, his university, several bakruptcies, his "charitable" Foundation...

Guess what Breitbart and Fox viewers are....