A new poll has found first lady Michelle Obama would beat Republican Mark Kirk by 11 points in a face-off for his Illinois Senate seat if she were to run.
The first lady has said more than once that she is not interested in running for office, but her answer has varied from “absolutely not” to “probably not” within the same response. Still, her charm and popularity has fans speculating.
Mrs. Obama’s polling numbers have remained higher than her husband’s since shortly after he took office. The president regularly joked during election season that his wife was the more popular of the two and a bigger hit on the campaign trail. Even GOP competitor Mitt Romney made the same joke.
For now it seems that fans will have to wait and see if Michelle Obama decides to take a page from Hillary Clinton’s playbook and run for office after she leaves the east wing, but this early polling makes it seems as if she’d at least have a good shot at public office if she wanted it.
Morgan Whitaker