Barack's Mom on Mother's Day

People have written books about the mothers of presidents (and I don't want to jinx Obama's chances at the presidency), but I think when you're looking at a male presidential candidate, it pays to look closely at the women in his life to see what kind of man he is. I've already waxed poetic on Michelle, and I can only respect a man who has a strong willed, intelligent, independant wife. Otherwise, he's got some control issues.

Look at his mother too, especially since it's mother's day. Ellen Goodman did a mother's day observation of Ann Dunham (Barack's mom) in her May 9th column. Here's the link http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/05/09/sharing_dreams_from_his_mother/

Goodman mentions that we barely know about her, other than her role as a mother, not "the one who became an anthropologist, the woman who spent years as the respected head of research for Women's World Banking, bringing micro-financing to poor people in Indonesia."

Nancy Barry, who was the head of Women's World Banking and knew Ann well, has been bewildered by the way she's been reduced to a stick figure. "She was stubborn, hard core, decisive, convincing, deep-thinking, rigorous in her analysis," says Barry. "When I hear Barack talking about how we are not red states, blue states, but the United States, I think he gets that from his mother. The other core capability he gets from her is the desire for healing."

If you want the measure of a man, take a look at the women in his life.