Barring some unforeseen circumstance, I'll be reporting later today from the Washington Hilton, where Michelle Obama will be speaking at the National Partnership for Women and Families annual luncheon. EMILY's List founder and president Ellen Malcolm, a once die-hard Hillary supporter who last week endorsed Barack, will also be there.
The National Partnership is a great organization that originally drafted the Family Leave Act in the 1980s and has been instrumental in defending it ever since. Hillary Clinton spoke often about the FMLA during her run, greatly exaggerating her role in passing the bill, which was the first her husband signed once he was sworn into office in 1993. In fact, the key players were Pat Schroeder, Chris Dodd, and Ted Kennedy. Still, Clinton's focus on the issue, as well as on pay equity for women, were welcome additions to the campaign, and mantles that I expect Michelle Obama will take up in her speech today. It should be an interesting corollary to her husband's speech last week on fatherhood. So stay tuned.
--Dana Goldstein
