The axe has fallen on Michelle Obama‘s presumed future political career.
Appearing on Hugh Hewitt‘s radio program Friday, David Axelrod, former top aide to President Obama, insisted that the chances of the first lady pursuing a career in politics come January are slim to none.
He says she doesn’t even like politics.
Without a doubt, Michelle Obama‘s speeches have had an orgasmic reaction around the country, especially within the Washington press corps. (In other words, check out NYT and CNBC’s John Harwood‘s Twitter feed for extreme praise.)
But that doesn’t mean she’s going to run for office.
“…people say to me all the time well, do you think she might run for office sometime?” Axelrod, now a CNN contributor, told Hewitt. “I would bet everything that I own against that prospect. She is not someone who loves politics or, at all. And I don’t think she’s really out there as a political figure. Now she’s out there because she feels passionately about the choice here.”
Axelrod said the first lady is going to be happy to “get her life back” when the White House gig is over.
See key parts of the transcript below:
HH: I really do not think, and there are some conservatives who believe she is political. She has been like Laura bush, very non-political. I am curious if you think she would ever accept an appointment to the Bench, because she was a pretty good lawyer before she went into the role of First Lady.
DA: She was. You know, that’s another question, but I’ve never discussed it with her. I would say no, because the fact is she was a good lawyer. I mean, you know, she went to a, I think you may have attended this place, at least as an undergraduate.
HH: Oh, no. I’m a University of Michigan lawyer.
DA: Yes…
HH: Yeah.
DA: But she went to your college alma mater…
HH: Yes, she’s a Harvard lawyer.
DA: And, but she really, she hasn’t, she was less about the practice of law than about doing other kinds of work. She worked for the University of Chicago in kind of community relations work and building a community health network and things like that. So you know, I don’t, I’ve never heard her speak in that context. I honestly think she’s going to be very happy to get her life back when this is over, and to recede a little bit from the public eye, and trying to help on the issues that she cares about.
Listen to the full show here.