Special to WorldTribune.com
“Hurt feelings” and “resentment” from the 2008 presidential campaign continue to linger in the relationship between former first ladies Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton, the author of a new book said.
“The 2008 presidential campaign left deep and lasting scars on both the Clinton and the Obama camps, and they are still shockingly fresh,” Kate Andersen Brower writes in “First Women, the Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies”.
The author contends that Michelle Obama, now 52, “never forgot how Hillary mocked her husband’s message of ‘hope and change’ at a campaign rally in Ohio during that campaign.”
Clinton, meanwhile, has remained bitter for years over her 2008 defeat and the fact that Sen. Ted Kennedy, who had been her mentor in the Senate, did not support her presidential candidacy, the author said.
A source in Clinton’s inner circle told the author that Hillary, now 68, is running again for president out of vengeance for that loss.
Clinton acolytes also suggested to Andersen Brower that “Michelle has not done enough as first lady” and has failed to prioritize funding for some programs that subsequently lost their federal support.
A prime example, the author wrote, was the Save America’s Treasures program that Clinton initiated to help preserve and protect historic sites, arts and published works. Laura Bush continued the program but Michelle Obama “felt no such obligation to those treasures and let the program dissolve.”
The author said “Michelle’s feelings towards Hillary were blatantly obvious” when no couple dinners were scheduled at the Obama White House while Hillary was secretary of state.
The book also notes that Michelle Obama is close with Jill Biden and Vice President Joe Biden and was hoping the vice president would run against Hillary for the Democratic nomination this year so that “his win would take away the sweet taste of victory once again for Hillary.”
“When Michelle Obama views the Clintons, I don’t want to say she’s looking down her nose at them – but she kind of is,” a former Obama adviser told the author.
The book goes on to say that Michelle Obama is anxiously awaiting the end of her husband’s second term so that she can get out of the White House and start making money on book deals and speaking fees, as Hillary did.
“Barack is aware of his wife’s unhappiness but there’s little he can do until his term is over. He’s too involved in policy making as well crafting his political legacy in these final months,” the author said.
New book: ‘Shockingly fresh’ scars in relations with Hillary have Michelle anxious to exit White House added by Editor One on
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