Sacre Bleu! Le Monde Publishes Never-Before-Seen 1996 Interview With Obamas About Their Marriage

[RamboLiberal]

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The French newspaper Le Monde on Saturday took the Obama team by surprise by publishing an interview with Barack and Michelle Obama from 1996 in which the two spoke at length about their marriage, only four years after they were wed, and two years before their oldest daughter Malia was born.

Many themes will not surprise those who know or follow the Obamas.

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President-elect Obama, who turned 35 that year, describes growing up with a single mother and absent father, and says, "I think that in a certain way, I’ve tried all my life to fabricate a family through stories, memories, friends or ideas. Michelle’s family life was different, very stable with two parents, a stay-at-home mom, a brother, a dog, that kind of thing. They’ve lived in the same house all their lives. And I think that in a certain way we complement each other, we represent two common models of family life in this country. One very stable and strong, another that frees itself from the constraint of a traditional family, travels, separates, is very mobile."

"A part of me was wondering what a strong, reassuring family life would look like," he says, "while Michelle in a way, wanted to break from that model. In a way only, because she’s very attached to family values, but I think she sometimes sees in me a more adventurous way of life, more exotic, and in that respect, we’re complementary."

Describing Michelle as "alluring" and with "a strong personality," the future President says, "if you look deep into her eyes, there’s a certain vulnerability. In any case, I see it even if most don’t realize it: she goes through life tall, beautiful, confident, very able…There’s a part of her that is fragile, young, sometimes scared, and I think these are contradictions that attracted me to her. And she makes me very happy. She is very familiar to me and so I can be myself around her, she knows me well, I completely trust her, but at the same time in certain respects she remains a mystery to me."

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/01/sacre-bleu-le-m.html

Nice!

[Jackeens]

1. Great find!!

[gblady]

2. nice....

to have the 12 year perspective....

[midnight]

3. Michelle seems like a very thougthful person. Someone who

has always had to think things through. It will be a wonderful change for our country.

[FrenchieCat]

4. That was a pretty long article for someone who wasn't anybody really YET!

Obama is nothing but consistent.

[Triana]

5. "Our relationship was first a friendship. It took off from there."

THAT is one big reason why they have a good relationship/marriage.

[AspenRose]

6. +1

[Jennicut]

7. Barack seemed to be looking for someone with a stable family life

My parents have been together for 35 years too but my husband's mother has been married 4 times. I think people with family backgrounds so opposite of each other attract.

[firedupdem]

8. Nice article. n/t

[mikehiggins]

9. Even the "surprises" just add to the Obama's positive image.

This must really sicken the REPuke lie machine. No "gotchas", just a good solid relationship between two good, solid people.

Neat

[Uzybone]

10. Amazing

the guy is the same man he was 12 years ago before he even sniffed any sort of political position. I'm even more optimistic about his intentions now.

[struggle4progress]

11. "What concerns me the most are children and the way they are treated"

[reggie the dog]

12. the last part where is he explaining his politics is great

he talks about our responsabilities to each other.