Juan Williams prefaced his remarks on Michelle Obama with a bit of conservative conventional wisdom, the idea that Michelle is a “liability” because everyone in America sees her as something similar to her caricature on that New Yorker cover. Like many closely held conservative beliefs, this one proves to be false.
Over all, 49 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of Mrs. Obama, 5 percent view her unfavorably and 44 percent do not yet have an opinion.
In a February 1993 Times/CBS poll, 44 percent expressed a favorable view of the first lady at the time, Hillary Rodham Clinton, while 16 percent viewed her unfavorably. And early into Ronald Reagan’s first term in office, 28 percent rated Nancy Reagan positively and 10 percent negatively, with the rest offering no opinion.
Obviously, there's a lot of room in that poll for people to view Michelle Obama unfavorably, and years of hysterical screeching from the right-wing noise machine did wonders for Secretary Clinton. It doesn't matter if the American people see Michelle Obama the way The Corner does, the point is to make it true through incessant repetition. But to suggest that Michelle is currently a political liability to the president because everyone sees her as a secret black radical is the opinion of a small, vocal fringe.
— A. Serwer
