8 Reasons Michelle Obama Would Make a Better Presidential Candidate Than Her Husband

Is she actually the toughest and smartest Obama?

4. She has more credibility on the issue of women’s health.

Compared to some of his conservative counterparts who see no problem with states returning to the good old days of outlawing birth control, President Obama probably seems as comforting as the second coming of Gloria Steinem to nervous progressives. But it wasn’t that long ago that the White House seemed this close to caving to religious extremists over the issue of contraception coverage. As I, and other, women writers noted, this was a reminder of the perils of having your government run entirely by those who have never walked in your shoes; whether those are the shoes of the poor, the disenfranchised, or, frankly a pair of stilettos while walking to your ObGyn. It would be nice to see a conversation about contraception or pay equity actually being led by a woman for a change — a woman who actually has the power to do something about it from the oval office. I know I’m not the only woman who feels that way and plenty of women who do, vote.

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3. Bo would endorse her over him.

Like plenty of households (including the one I grew up in) there are multiple residents who claim the family pet, but usually one who actually takes care of Fluffy, or Mr. Bear or Tiger. In the case of the Obama family, the President can pose for as many photo ops with First Dog Bo as he’d like to but at the end of the day we all know what would happen if they ended up on Judge Judy and the President and First lady stood at opposite sides of the room, calling an unleashed Bo. The President would lose in a landslide as Bo sauntered over to the person who actually walks him and picks up after him.

2. She is more likable.

How do I know? Because the polls say so. While polls show that plenty of Americans who may not agree with the President's policies like him personally, they still don't like him as much as they like his wife. This is not particularly surprising, considering the president has battled allegations of coming across as occasionally aloof and arrogant throughout his career.  But it is still a pretty ironic turn of events considering just a few short years ago he was using his own likability to lift her image in the eyes of voters, and since he famously dismissed his then-rival Hillary Clinton as "likable enough" in a debate. It remains to be seen if he is "likable enough" for re-election. There's no question that his campaign can certainly benefit from the likability of his Mrs. this time around. 

1. She has more real world economic and financial experience.

For much of their partnership as a power couple, the First Lady’s career eclipsed that of her husband’s. That means that while her husband was idealistically saving the world and championing causes that he cared about and helping to shape young minds as a professor — all admirable pursuits — she was actually dealing with the economic realities that come with being the breadwinner, like stretching her paycheck to accommodate his dreams as well as her own and paying off student loans while simultaneously juggling the costs of a growing family. Furthermore, her jobs in city government involved budgeting and finance. So when it comes to actually balancing a checkbook, let alone striving to achieve a balanced federal budget, my money would be on her over him.

Keli Goff is a Contributing Editor for Loop21.com. Read more at www.keligoff.com