Michelle Votes

Pictured is the First Lady casting her early ballot in Chicago on Thursday. As usual, she was very understated and went about her private business of casting her citizen's vote quietly and without fanfare. After casting her ballot, Michelle commented to reporters: "That's the second time I've been proud of America. We didn't even need the New Black Panthers to protect the polls."

All right. I made that up. But Princeton and Harvard graduate and legal genius Michelle (Wikipedia says her occupation is "lawyer," so it must be true) decided to hold an impromptu political rally inside the Chicago polling place. She told some of her fellow voters that she had voted to support her husband and to help Democrats who need to be in office for the betterment of America. The average person might be a little annoyed by the partisanship, but an alleged lawyer is supposed to know, well, the law.

And Illinois law is clear. No kind of political speech within the sanctity of the polling place. A lawyer would know that expressing her view of why she voted the way she did, and for whom, is political speech forbidden by the law of her home state. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 as cold oatmeal and 10 being a tsunami hitting New York City, I make this a 2 or 3. The exact wording of the Illinois statute is: "No person shall engage in any political discussion within any polling place or within 100 feet of any polling place." So obviously, this is a rather technical violation that a layman could easily make without thinking.

But two things occur to me. First, the Obamas hold themselves out to be ethical, knowledgeable followers of the law and the Constitution as well as practitioners of law. Lawyers are supposed to be held to a higher standard of care and knowledge, most particularly about the niceties of the most important act a free citizen can accomplish--the vote. Lawyers have been disciplined, suspended and disbarred for far more technical and much less far-reaching unprofessional acts.

Second, there is the mainstream media non-coverage of the event--very much in keeping with yesterday's discussion. If Laura Bush had done something half this bad, the press would have made it the biggest story of the week, complete with calls for her husband to take her out behind the woodshed and administer punishment. The screams of agony and indignation over Laura's attempt to derail the democratic process and unlawfully influence voters would have been heard 'round the world--twice. And Laura was a librarian, not a "lawyer."

Michelle the Lawyer didn't actually electioneer--which is what most people would think of when considering speech at a polling place. But the Illinois statute was written broadly to avoid any hint of politics or influence where people are voting. Section 17-29 of the Illinois Elections Code goes beyond electioneering, forbidding any political discussion in or near a polling place. Michelle clearly suffers from attacks of logorrhea, but this one time she should have been able to control it.

It is also important to note that though she did not make those remarks at the site directly to reporters, she knew full good and well they were there, listening and recording. So she wasn't really just having a little kaffee klatsch with a couple of local private citizens. Her "sincere" reasons for voting for Democrats and her husband's policies were meant to be heard far beyond the polling place. Which would be perfectly fair politics if the remarks had not been made within the polling place.

So Michelle's message didn't get out to the vast audience she intended it to reach because to do so would require the MSM to highlight the fact that Michelle, plainly and simply, broke the law. Some publications printed the message anyway, and ignored where the comments were made. Others, if mentioning the location at all, denigrated the idea that this was anything more than a simple slip-up. The networks either ignored the whole thing entirely, or mentioned a controversy stirred up by anti-Obama Republicans who were creating a tempest in a teapot (at a Tea Party?).

So even though I'd give her a slap on the wrist and a pass for this breach of ethics and decorum, and violation of election law, it's still an important story, if only because once again, the MSM is still participating in the perpetual political campaigns of the Obamas.