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Barack and Michelle Obama battled over immigration reform new book reveals

Michelle at loggerheads with Rahm Emmanuel over who influenced the president

By
JAMES O'SHEA,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer
Published Saturday, January 7, 2012, 7:26 AM
Updated Saturday, January 7, 2012, 9:23 AM

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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama
Photo by Google Images


A new book claims that Michelle Obama and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emannuel were at daggers drawn during the first years of the Obama administration and their clash came to a head during the battle for immigration reform.

"The Obamas," a new book by Jodi Kantor of The New York Times deals with the first few years of the Obama administration and the pressure on the president's marriage.

Barack and Michelle had many heated discussions about the immigration issue the book says as both she and Emmanuel tried to gain the president’s ear.

Matters came to a head with Emmanuel when Michelle Obama was deeply committed to comprehensive immigration reform but Emanuel wanted to sideline the issue believing it had no chance of passage.

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Both fought for the president’s ear on the issue.

Michelle Obama was especially moved by meeting a second grader in a Maryland school who told her that her parents had no papers and were illegal.

Michelle won out in the battle for the president’s priorities and Emmanuel knew from that time on his period as Chief of Staff was ending.

According to author Kantor, the president’s speech on the topic was a bust.

"His impassioned remarks faded almost as soon as he gave them," writes Kantor. "The media and others were puzzled -- why this, why now? ... Obama became quietly furious at his team for not giving the address more support, for not delivering the one he had wanted in the first place or talking it up more in the press. The first lady fumed, too: she took it as more proof that her husband's advisers were poorly serving him ... The speech incident confirmed her worst fears, and by that point, several aides said, Michelle was bluntly telling her husband that he needed a new team."

The book also recounts that Emmanul was immediately wary of Michelle Obama because he had previously clashed with First Lady Hillary Clinton during the Clinton administration.

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19 Comments

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AmericanPatty | Jan 15, 2012, 12:16 PM EST
Once again, heresay from a book written by someone who hates the world, including the Obamas!!!

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jimgordo1 | Jan 10, 2012, 05:46 PM EST
What a load of crap! I just heard the author on NPR today and she admitted the book was based on third-hand info from interviews with staffers -- "I heard she said etc etc." She did an interview with the Obamas nine months after they entered the White House and they haven't granted her access since. One of the reasons that Michelle and Rahm didn't get along is because he promised some FL Congressman that she would appear on his behalf; however, he never bothered telling Michelle that in advance! Wouldn't you be pissed as someone who did that to you??? It evidently wasn't the first or last conflict between the two. It was noted today that there are 36 people on the President's speech-writing staff. It was also noted that Michelle had an ally on Obama's staff whom she would email with ideas or comments. The staffer would then strip Michelle's email address and forward the stuff to other staffers for comment.

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AMWilson | Jan 10, 2012, 03:25 AM EST
Taylor55, if you are descended from 19th century Irish immigrants, then the words you use are probably pretty similar to the words which were used against your ancestors. Many of us are descended from illegal Irish immigrants who took the cheaper ship fare to Canada and slipped across the border into the US.

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Taylor55 | Jan 09, 2012, 03:09 PM EST
"Michelle Obama was especially moved by meeting a second grader in a Maryland school who told her that her parents had no papers and were illegal" Michelle was "moved" by the child of foreign career criminals, but is not "moved" by the child of Americans who jobs, assets, and benefits were stolen by those foreign criminals? Why does she hate Americans so much? It's long past time to get these traitors out.

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jamthecat | Jan 08, 2012, 01:55 PM EST
I agree with most of what kaydog1 said, except for leaving out the hundreds of billions also given to the banks and Wall Street. That bailout may have started under Bush, but O kept it going without any serious oversight, letting both dens of theives get away with destruction of peoples' lives as they paid themselves massive bonuses. He, Rahm, his whole damned administration should be ashamed of themselves.

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kaydog1 | Jan 08, 2012, 01:00 PM EST
Obama's supporters paint him as the most intelligent, most effective genius in the world, "the smartest man in the room", well deserving of all the accolades they heap upon him. That is, of course, until people start mentioning that he didn't actually DO the things he promised to do. Then, suddenly, as in this article, he becomes an amiable goof, a well-meaning patsy "misled" by his Chief of Staff and his "team" for "not delivering...the one he had wanted." VICTIM!!! HE'S a VICTIM TOO! I must reply NONSENSE. Obama had a majority in the House AND the Senate during the first two years of his term. As President, he could have legalized gay marriag, closed GITMO, legalized all the illegal aliens, and done a hundred other things he claims to have wanted. No one could have stopped him, least of all the Republicans - the Obamacare Bill passed without any Republican votes and without even being READ! Congress just did what Obama told it to do. But Obama did NOT choose to fulfill his promises to rank and file supporters. Instead, he pushed through a Stimulus to give taxpayer money to the cities to preserve union jobs, he gave the auto industry a bailout, gave 40% of GM to its union, gave the health insurance industry a gift of 300 million legally-mandated "customers", gave Billions to AIG, Fannae Mae, Freddie Mac, Solyndra, etc. Please don't try to pretend that Obama is just a simple, well-meaning, goofy victim like all the rest of the American public. Obama has been accomplishing whatever he REALLY wants to accomplish.

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PhlutiePhan | Jan 08, 2012, 09:37 AM EST
Both Michelle and Hillary are strong and dominating women with definite agendas. Both control their men. Emmaneul has a strong Jewish persona. You do the math!

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irishpjk | Jan 07, 2012, 09:19 PM EST
She has a bigger pair in the white house, or our president is a wus

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MegK311 | Jan 07, 2012, 07:01 PM EST
Just more Obama, Rama Drama.

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cillowen | Jan 07, 2012, 03:32 PM EST
the prez and misses had better play ball to the very end. obama spouts those assuring words anyway for our betters to hear and spread partnership fear for the world's people to consume.

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simplesandy | Jan 07, 2012, 02:43 PM EST
I think we are missing something here!!! trust me when I say I love one child as much as another but here is the wife of the president of the united states and when her husband was sworn in he promised to uphold the law. errrummm didnt that child say her parents were illegal?? are they still here in USA?? WTF!!! why werent they arrested and taken out of the country?? hey Michelle why dont you take them all into the white house. your as bad as Hilery Clinton . it takes a village to raise a child. ha.what are we teaching others about our laws and policies. we may as well put up a welcome all sign and let them all in. we already furnish them with free this and free that. we need to stop making the illegal new born children in America legal Americans.law should be you are from the country your parents are from. and for those illegals here why is it that when they have children the kids are legal? I am missing something. something dont match up/

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Yeeeech | Jan 07, 2012, 12:46 PM EST
The only thing this proves is that we need more bachlelor Presidents. Michelle knows as much about policies and practices for comprehensive immigration reform, management, the "right team" and recruiting as she does, well, about nutrition. She is a Harvard attorney, with no license to practice law (it was suspended).

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atherts | Jan 07, 2012, 12:16 PM EST
Who was elected president? Why does what Michelle thinks have any importance here?

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Nicomax | Jan 07, 2012, 12:15 PM EST
Laura told W more than once that he was spending too much time with Condi. It was personal for her, not policy, since she had few if any opinions in that area.

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jamthecat | Jan 07, 2012, 12:15 PM EST
"Barack and Michelle" did NOT battle over immigration reform, as this stupid headline says, it was "Rahm" and Michelle. Do the people who write your headlines even read the fracking article? Or do they just imprint their prejudices on the lead? And while I hate to agree with CitizenWhy, that's how it's been for the last three years. O promises, the GOP says No, O folds, and normal American citizens get screwed. Maybe this year will be different, considering the recess appointments that all but flipped off the GOP and the beginnings of immigration reform...but I'm still holding a wait and see attitude, especially since Congress is still in recess. Republicans have proven to be complete animals while O's proven to have no balls so many times, I don't trust a thing he says.

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