ridiculous to make a spouse a campaign issue. Here's an excerpt of interview
Sen. Obama's interview with Glamour magazine.
GLAMOUR: An AP poll shows that while the positive ratings
on Michelle are higher than those of Cindy McCain, her negative
ratings are higher as well. I'm curious about how as a husband that
makes you feel. Does it mystify you? And what do you want to
say to those Americans who don't know the woman that you know?
SENATOR OBAMA: It's infuriating, but it's not surprising, because
let's face it: What happened was that the conservative press—Fox News
and the National Review and columnists of every ilk—went fairly
deliberately at her in a pretty systematic way...and treated her as the
candidate in a way that you just rarely see the Democrats try to do
against Republicans. And I've said this before: I would never have my
campaign engage in a concerted effort to make Cindy McCain an issue,
and I would not expect the Democratic National Committee or people
who were allied with me to do it. Because essentially, spouses are civilians.
One thing I would like to note that Michelle is out campaigning for him and
giving speeches on his behalf. So, it's hard to say she should be off limits. Also,
I've seen some of her speeches on C-SPAN and they are gloomy. One of the
themes that Sen. Obama has tried to capitalize on is hope.
So I don't see her has an effective campaigner for her husband. That's all.
I would also say some of the criticism of her has been unfair.