The Obamas heading to the polls on Nov 4, 2008 in Chicago (Jae C. Hong/AP)
During Barack Obama’s election night speech, he mentioned two subjects of potential media fodder in the same sentence: his daughters and the family dog.
“Sasha and Malia, I love you both more than you can imagine, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House,” Obama said before the crowd at Grant Park in Chicago.
The next day, the Times of London posed an important question, one that will no doubt be illuminated over the coming months: “How are those two little girls going to have any semblance of a normal life when their father is not just the American President, but also the first black American President?” The media tends to focus its critical eye on female appearance, which could make Sasha and Malia especially vulnerable, argued the Times of London article.
Case in point, Chelsea Clinton, who has emerged essentially unscathed from years of media scrutiny. The worst of which, perhaps, was a nasty joke about her told by John McCain.
But perhaps the media’s overwhelming focus on personal matters only made Chelsea stronger and more able to defend herself. While out on the campaign trail with her mother, Chelsea fielded questions from the crowd, at one point brushing off a Monica Lewinsky-related query with confident poise.
Hopefully, Sasha and Malia won’t have to endure what Chelsea did. At least they’re off to a good start with the new puppy. The Oregonian reports that the Obamas will be adopting a dog from a shelter—commence media hypothesizing over breed, name, etc.
For a rundown of presidential children, the blog Upstairs as the Whitehouse provides a brief biography of each child of an American president.
Grab more post-election coverage from our Election 2008 section.
Sarah Amandolare
Senior Writer
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