By Ned Sheehan

Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s 10-city tour to promote her upcoming memoir “Becoming” has become a sensation. Far from the subdued gatherings that one might assume make up a normal book tour, Obama sold out stadiums across the country and quickly added two more dates to the tour to accommodate the massive surge of interest.

This has led many Democrats, already nostalgic for the Obama Administration, to see her as a president in the making. Some are even urging her to run in the 2020 presidential election. Though Obama has shown herself to be a woman of character and poise, it would be bad for the party, and possibly even the country, if she were to run for president.

First off, we must remember the last time the Democrats groomed a former first lady for the presidency. Hillary Clinton lost a very winnable election to Donald Trump in large part because she was tainted by Bill Clinton’s scandals and failures. Her campaign was also managed by incompetent staffers who began their careers under Bill Clinton. It isn’t fair that a woman was judged largely by her husband’s errors, but politics aren’t very fair.

Barack Obama is generally considered as more likable and morally upright than Bill Clinton. But rest assured that Republicans will dredge up every misstep and error of the Obama administration to use against Michelle Obama’s potential campaign. Hillary Clinton was arguably more politically qualified than Michelle Obama. Clinton at least served as senator and Secretary of State and was able to build a reputation of her own. Michelle Obama, on the other hand, has never held public office–elected or appointed–in her life.

Who even knows if she could run a successful campaign? Filling a stadium in a big, liberal city is different from running an efficient political machine. It is doing the grinding work of reaching out to voters in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Her closeness to traditional politics isn’t necessarily a good thing in this day and age of populist, anti-establishment candidates.

On a global scale, there has been a massive shift away from traditional parties, forces and political dynasties and towards a more populist, aggressive style of politics. Populist parties of both the left and right have won over millions, and the old-school center-left and center-right that seemed so invincible just a decade ago are in a state of total crisis.

America isn’t immune to this trend, given the massive enthusiasm for the campaigns of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. Though the Obamas are far from a political dynasty, they are still tied to the mainline Democratic party, which could damage Obama’s credibility in talking about issues like the decline of the Rust Belt states or the terrifying growth of wealth inequality in this country. However, Michelle Obama doesn’t need to run for office to be a powerful figure within the Democratic party.

If there’s one thing this book tour has proven, it’s that Democrats revere Michelle Obama. Her book will almost certainly top the bestseller list for months on the backs of the people who have also been filling stadiums to see her across the country. That likelihood in itself is a powerful thing. She doesn’t need to hold political office to have influence; she can write books, start foundations and speak for worthy causes and never have to deal with the grime that comes with elected office.
Eleanor Roosevelt never held office for a day of her life. She’s still beloved by Democrats and even some Republicans, partly because she never did so.

Power doesn’t come from the office or position one holds, but rather from the influence one has and the ability to inspire people to carry out one’s vision. Michelle Obama has that, and could arguably lose it by campaigning for presidency. For the good of the party, and for the sake of her own power, Michelle Obama should avoid a presidential campaign.

Ned Sheehan, FCRH ’22, is a history major from Needham, Massachusetts.