Perceptions of candidate spouses in the 2012 presidential election: the role of gender, race, religion, and partisanship

Why We Love Michelle: Understanding Public Support for First Lady Michelle Obama

“…Michelle Obama was able to amass greater support during her time in office while minimizing new opposition toward her in the process. Although not shown in Figure 1, from 2008 to 2012, as a greater portion of Americans got to know her, the percentage of Americans with an unfavorable view of Michelle Obama did not increase at all; only the percentage of those viewing her favorably increased (Elder and Frederick 2019). Essentially, as she became better known as first lady, a broad coalition of Americans developed a positive impression of her.…”

“…In line with this historical context, 2012 ANES data show that Michelle Obama was extraordinarily popular in 2012 with African Americans (as was her husband, the first African American president) registering a mean feeling thermometer rating of 92 degrees. As Elder and Frederick's (2019) analysis shows, this relationship holds up even after extensive controls for partisanship, ideology, and other political and demographic variables. This near universal support among the African American community illustrates that even though they are not elected office holders the visibility of first ladies can make them powerful symbolic figures for historically marginalized groups.…”

“…Had she taken a leadership role in addressing these issues her favorability rating among whites and Republicans most likely would have suffered. In line with the new traditionalist expectations, by confining her activism to less controversial causes such as healthy children, Michelle Obama remained a historically beloved figure among African Americans while still enjoying support among many whites, particularly White women (Elder and Frederick 2019), an approach that ultimately optimized her political standing.…”

“…Attitudes toward racial equality were a predominant factor in shaping political attitudes during President Obama's tenure on the national political scene (Kinder and Dale-Riddle 2012;Tesler 2016;Tesler and Sears 2010) and in the 2016 election of his successor (Abramowitz 2018;Schaffner, Macwilliams, and Nteta 2018;Tien 2017;Tolbert, Redlawsk, and Gracey 2018). Previous analyses have also revealed that individuals with more negative attitudes toward African Americans feel less favorably toward Michelle Obama even after controlling for a collection of relevant political and demographic variables (Elder and Frederick 2019;Elder, Frederick, and Burrell 2018;Knuckey and Kim 2016). This relationship was a double-edged sword in that negative racial predispositions tended to reduce support for her, but more positive views toward African Americans boosted her profile.…”

Michelle Obama as a Political Symbol: Race, Gender, and Public Opinion toward the First Lady

“…In this article, we evaluate public opinion toward Michelle Obama, specifically asking whether and how she was able to provide symbolic representation to women, African Americans, and African American women. While previous studies have examined the role of gender and race in evaluations of the first ladies generally, and of Michelle Obama more specifically, an understanding of how the intersection of Michelle Obama's race and gender influenced evaluations of her as first lady is lacking (Elder and Frederick 2017; Knuckey and Kim 2016). In this article, we address not only the extent to which race and gender influenced evaluations of the first lady but also how the intersection of these descriptive identities influenced public opinion more broadly.…”