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<p>In an interview Wednesday with CNN, the first lady remarked that it's fortunate that Republican presidential nominee John McCain has foreign policy experience himself.</p> <p>Still, Mrs. Bush says she has a lot of confidence in Palin. She says the Alaska governor has a lot of good common sense, and the first lady adds that she is thrilled to have a chance to vote for Palin on the GOP ticket.</p>

NEW YORK - Elizabeth Banks, who portrays Laura Bush to Josh Brolin's George in the upcoming film "W," considers the first lady an underrated beauty. "For some reason, I don't think people appreciate just how beautiful a woman that she is," said Banks, sitting pretty in a party room at Manhattan's Gramercy Park Hotel, where Women's Health magazine honored the 34-year-old actress' October cover Monday night. "I think it's partially just because I think she needs a mini-makeover — but if she were wearing super stylish Phillip Lim dresses and had long, blond hair, I think you'd really be stunned...

The liberal campaign to seek to diminish Sarah Palin by sexualizing her continues. Yesterday, I described how Frank Rich used a number of sexualized terms in reference to Palin's relationship with McCain: "shotgun marriage," "speed-dating" and "embrace." Chris Matthews employed a similar tactic this evening, claiming that Palin is running "somewhere between a VP and a First Lady."

President Bush participated this morning, in a briefing on Hurricane Gustav, and to discuss energy Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

That’s No First Lady, That’s My Wife! By Burt Prelutsky I must confess I got a chuckle out of Barack Obama’s warning us all to lay off his wife. Sorry, pal, but it’s too late in the game for that. If you didn’t want her to be a legitimate target, you should have told her to stay home with the kids and to keep her yap shut. The days when the little women remained at home while the menfolk went off to run for president ended a long time ago, back in the days of Bess Truman and Mamie Eisenhower....

Mark Morford of the San Francisco Chronicle's website is one of the MSM's most unhinged, hate-filled columnists. Today he earns his pay by railing against Laura Bush because she isn't an obnoxious, left-wing elite bigmouth like Teresa Heinz Kerry and because she doesn't believe, as Hillary Clinton did, that her role as First Lady gives her the prerogative to plan the massive government takeover of huge swaths of the private sector. Here's your daily allowance of bile:

NEW YORK - First lady Laura Bush will be "guest host" for an hour of NBC's "Today" show next week. The network said she'll host the 9 a.m. EDT hour April 22, the morning of the Pennsylvania primary. By that time in the four-hour morning show, politics is usually set aside for issues that affect women, who make up the majority of the audience during that time period. Mrs. Bush will participate in several segments and interviews, NBC said Tuesday.

(English-language translation) [Puerto Rico] First Lady Luisa Gándara joined in the celebration of Perfect Breakfast Day. Gándara went yesterday to Abraham Lincoln Elementary School in Old San Juan to share with the students during breakfast, accompanied by Education and Agriculture secretaries Rafael Aragunde and Gabriel Figueroa, respectively. She made no statements to the press. "I join in the dairy industry's initiative to accentuate the importance of breakfast in the diet of Puerto Rican families, especially that of our students, and actively commemorate Perfect Breakfast Day in the island. The first meal of the day is important for children, since, after...

You'll recall Hillary Clinton's recent speech in which she attempted to play up her foreign policy experience by recounting her "harrowing" 1996 trip to Bosnia. "I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base." Well, mainstream media has discounted that account, and such luminaries as comedian Sinbad have chimed in as well. It appears, however, that Clinton caved in too soon when she admitted overstating the dangers, as Barely Political...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton now argues that the North American Free Trade Agreement needs to be renegotiated, but newly released records showed on Wednesday she promoted its passage. The National Archives and the Clinton presidential library jointly released more than 11,000 pages of Clinton's daily schedule as first lady from 1993 to 2001. The release came in response to charges that she is overly secretive, and also allowed her campaign to promote her argument that she gained valuable White House experience during her years as first lady. Clinton and Obama are battling to win Pennsylvania on...

WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton was home in the White House the day her husband had an infamous sexual encounter just outside the Oval Office with intern Monica Lewinsky, according to Sen. Clinton's schedule, released Wednesday among 11,000 pages of papers from her years as first lady. The words of the schedules are dry, but they take on emotional weight when coupled with revelations about the sex scandal that eventually came to light. A year later, the first lady's schedules show her pressing ahead with public events and showing her face as the scandal upended her life and threatened Bill...

** EXCERPT ** The National Archives announced on Tuesday that 11,046 pages of Senator Hillary Rodham’s White House schedules will be released on Wednesday. The records were the subject of a legal fight between Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, and the National Archives, which has been slow to comply with a request to release the records, arguing that the vetting process takes time. Mrs. Clinton’s schedules have attracted close attention throughout the campaign, partly because Mrs. Clinton has frequently held up her eight years as first lady as evidence of her experience. ~snip~ Of the more than 11,000 pages...

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle told Meet the Press host Tim Russert that being First Lady doesn’t exactly constitute an apprenticeship for the Presidency. Daschle wanted to boost Barack Obama over a suddenly resurgent Hillary Clinton, and he attacked her experience argument. Daschle pointed out that Obama has more time in elective office than Hillary, but he somehow managed to avoid noting that John McCain has more than the both of them put together: Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) on Sunday questioned Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (N.Y.) pitching of herself as the most experienced candidate in the...

You get the feeling Michelle Obama is never going to be boring to cover. (See here, here, here and here.) Hot Air and JammieWearingFool already noted the most eye-opening comment from Mrs. Obama... Obama begins with a broad assessment of life in America in 2008, and life is not good: we’re a divided country, we’re a country that is “just downright mean,” we are “guided by fear,” we’re a nation of cynics, sloths, and complacents. “We have become a nation of struggling folks who are barely making it every day,” she said, as heads bobbed in the pews. “Folks are...

God-o-Meter caught up with Fred Thompson and his wife Jeri at various South Carolina events this week and has cobbled together this Q&A from a few separate exchanges. God-o-Meter has lots more to say about the Thompsons' answers--and will--but it has to head off to interview Ron Paul at Bob Jones University. God-o-Meter: Do you think religion is playing too big a role in the presidential race? Fred Thompson: I don’t have any feelings a long those lines. I think people have a right to express themselves, including people of faith, no question about it, and they’re participating and I’m...

1. Jeri Kehn was born on Sept. 30, 1966, in Hastings, Neb. Her family moved to Naperville, Ill., when she was 3. Growing up, Jeri spent summers on her grandparents' farm in Nebraska. 2. Her parents divorced when she was around 12. Her mother, Vicki, a librarian, married Ronald Keller, a music teacher, about three years after her divorce. 3. Jeri is a 1984 graduate of Naperville North High School. While at Naperville North, she was a member of the school's dance squad, the Starlettes. During Jeri's junior year of high school, the Starlettes won the state championship. 4. She...

Greencastle, Ind. - "Four years ago in this cycle there was a front-runner and his name was Howard Dean," recalls Jeri Kehn Thompson, in an interview with Kentucky's Lexington Herald-Leader. "John Kerry was running about eighth. You can ask President Dean how things went in Iowa." Thompson, a 1988 graduate of DePauw University, is the wife of Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson, who is currently running third among GOP candidates in an Iowa poll. She was in Louisville campaigning for her husband yesterday. The article notes that Jeri Thompson returned home to Washington immediately following her Kentucky stop so she...

If Hillary's "experience" is her time spent as a resident on Pennsylvania Ave... would Laura Bush's candidacy amount to a clash of the titans? Just noting the absurdity by being absurd...

This is a rush transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," November 20, 2007. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. Watch "The O'Reilly Factor" weeknights at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET and listen to the "Radio Factor!" LAURA INGRAHAM, GUEST CO-HOST: One candidate is seeing some challenges, though, in the polls. And that's Fred Thompson, who was in last place in the latest New Hampshire survey, second place in most national polls. And joining us right now from Washington is Jeri Thompson, the wife of Fred Thompson. Jeri, it's great to see you. JERI...

CHARLESTON — West Virginia supporters of Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson expect to welcome his wife to the Mountain State on Monday. Jeri Thompson is scheduled to meet with supporters and volunteers in Charleston, though the campaign’s state chapter says details were still being finalized. Thompson would be at least the third presidential candidate’s spouse to include West Virginia on the 2008 campaign trail. Former President Bill Clinton raised cash for his wife’s Democratic bid while in town for last month’s Jefferson-Jackson Dinner keynote appearance. The wife of Democratic White House hopeful John Edwards was to headline an October fundraiser...

This next election is shaping up to be the most important decision America has made in many decades. In fact, depending on how Americans choose to vote in the democratic primaries, it could be the most important election since the very first, way back in 1789. For the first time in history, the United States has two candidates — one a woman, one a man of color — who have very good chances of becoming the next leader of the free world. That’s not to say that there weren’t others before Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama who threw their hat...

This year the US Mint issued $1 Presidential coins. Also, in June 2007 the mint released "The First Spouse Gold Coins". These are one-half ounce $10 gold coins honoring the "First Spouses". We have been calling these women "First Ladies" for centuries. Only now that Hillary comes on the scene suddenly everyone, including the US Mint, starts kowtowing and trying to influence our language to get ready for her. By the way, the first two coins sold out completely within 3 to 3 1/2 hours of being released at over $400 each.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2007 – First lady Laura Bush visited troops in Kuwait today to thank them for their service, calling them a force for good in the Middle East. (Video) First lady Laura Bush greets U.S. Air Force Col. Brian O'Connor, vice commander of the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, in Kuwait, Oct. 24, 2007. The visit highlighted the accomplishments of the Middle East Partnership Initiative programs of the State Department. Defense Dept. photo by Staff Sgt. Tia Schroeder, U.S. Air Force   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “At the heart of your mission to protect America's freedom...

Jeri Thompson: The woman behind the man Naperville-raised Jeri Thompson is GOP hopeful's biggest cheerleader Recent months have seen Jeri Thompson painted a variety of ways in the press, from doting mom to trophy wife. She says she knew that would happen, but because she has granted few interviews, it can be hard to tell who she really is. The Sun had an exclusive opportunity to get to know the 41-year-old Naperville native a little better one afternoon last week. She sat down to talk before attending a major Chicago fundraiser for her husband, Fred Thompson, 65. The recently...

Here's how Jeri Kehn Thompson felt when she learned her husband, the former senator named Fred, had decided to run for president: “I felt so sick. I was depressed. I didn’t want to throw my husband to the snakes.” We learn this and more in a kind of coming-out interview in People magazine, coming out today. It's titled "No Trophy Wife" because, absent any information to the contrary, many in American society make assumptions about a 65-year-old man being married to a beautiful woman 24 years younger. The story opens with the former Jeri Kehn in sweatpants and ragged nails...

Recent months have seen Jeri Thompson painted a variety of ways in the press, from doting mom to trophy wife. The wife of GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson says she knew that would happen, but because she has given few interviews, it can be hard to tell who she really is. The Naperville Sun had an opportunity to get to know the 41-year-old Naperville native. She sat down for an interview before attending a major Chicago fund-raiser. The former Jeri Kehn lived in one of Naperville's downtown neighborhoods with her mom and stepdad, Vicki and Ron Keller. She graduated from...

Here's what I like about Ann Romney. She's not a victim. She doesn't act like a victim. Never asks for anyone's pity. Rarely mentions that she has a serious neurological disease at all. She's not a cause. Or a platform. A crusade. Or a cheerleader. She's just Ann. A woman married to the same guy for nearly 40 years, convinced he'd make a good president. You can agree or disagree on that. No disagreeing with her passion. Or commitment. Or selfless campaign style. She's a role model without ever intending to be. Because as she told me on this very...

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- A political consultant, two lawyers and a pair of battle-tested veterans of presidential campaigns are in the thick of the fight for the White House, urging their spouses on, promoting causes close to their heart and sharing a recipe or two in a nod to tradition. Two of the prospective first ladies are managing life-threatening diseases. One would be the first woman of color with the title. A third recently completed her latest humanitarian trip, to Vietnam. All but one are mothers, including of young children. One's a grandmother of 10, too. The nation has a variety...

"I could hardly breathe. I was gulping for air. I wanted to wring his neck." So writes Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Senator and former First Lady, in her autobiography "Living History." This particular passage recounts the bitter moment when her husband, then president Bill Clinton, confessed to her his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. Hillary's public retelling of her reaction came a full five years after the 1998 incident. During that time Hillary stood by her husband, famously reaffirming her love for him as he endured impeachment proceedings in the wake of the Lewinsky scandal. Motivated in...

She’s at it again. Where is that long cane when you need it, that one used from behind the curtain to snag and yank really bad acts off the stage? In her obsessively, narcissistic and never-ending attempt to redirect the spotlight from her husband onto herself, Michelle Obama’s endless diatribe of seething stupid remarks, while dubiously trying to support her target of those remarks, her husband, is creating a black stain on the race to the White House. First of all, I have a real big problem with all the pomp and power granted to First Ladies, and if it...

During her recent vacation at the family ranch near Crawford, Tex., first lady Laura Bush was reading news articles about the ongoing strife in Burma, where the military government has been arresting dissidents and protesters in large numbers in recent weeks. When she returned to Washington last week, she did something unusual: She called the U.N. secretary-general to register her dismay and urged him to condemn "the brutal crackdown." Yesterday, the first lady invited a small group of reporters to her office in the East Wing to explain her passion for the cause of Burmese freedom and called for a...

Vicki Keller was on her way out the door Wednesday when she was asked about her son-in-law's imminent run for the White House. "I don't know what there is to say, really," said the Naperville resident as she headed to Des Moines, Iowa, with her husband, Ron. The couple planned to be with Jeri Kehn, Vicki's daughter, at midnight, when Kehn's husband, Fred Thompson, officially planned to become the newest addition to the GOP presidential race. Although published reports said Kehn, 40, has been urging Thompson, 65, to toss his hat in the ring and is active behind the scenes,...

JUDITH GIULIANI likes to have an empty seat next to her on the campaign plane for “Baby Louis”—her Louis Vuitton handbag. Jeri Thompson is a “trophy wife” with a taste for low-cut dresses and gold-lamé wedge sandals. Ann Romney has five children and ten grandchildren. Elizabeth Kucinich sports a tongue-stud. These are just a small sample of titbits about would-be first ladies culled from the press. There is nothing new in Americans taking an interest in the spouses of potential presidents, or in the media being cruel to them. How better to find out about a person's true nature...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: After touring the site of the Minnesota bridge collapse yesterday, President Bush returned to Camp David, where he and the First Lady greeted Afghan President Hamid Karzai this morning. Afghan President Karzai arrives in US for talks with Bush AFP, 2 hours, 52 minutes ago CAMP DAVID, United States (AFP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived here Sunday for talks with President George W. Bush on the deteriorating security situation in his country. A range of issues from the US war on terror, the fight against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, and the resurgence of opium...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: President and Mrs. Bush spent the weekend at the White House, where they attended a T-ball game today. The President will meet with Polish President Lech Kaczynski tomorrow to discuss plans for a U.S. missile shield in Eastern Europe. Bush and Polish president to focus on missile shield Reuters WARSAW: President George W. Bush meets President Lech Kaczynski of Poland on Monday to iron out details of plans for a U.S. missile shield in Eastern Europe that is straining relations with Moscow. Underlining the growing tension between Russia and the West, President Vladimir Putin on...

AUSTIN, Texas — Lady Bird Johnson made a final trip Friday to her beloved wildflower center, where friends and family followed the former first lady's casket into a gallery for a private memorial service. About 180 people gathered at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, where her coffin, draped in white cloth with blue embroidery, rested in front of a large portrait of Johnson in a field of flowers. Nearby, two vases held lavender-hued bluebells, her favorite flower. "We are here to let Lady Bird go and to celebrate her glad release," said the Rev. Stephen Kinney, former rector at...

Just reported.

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: Mixing work with some vacation time, President Bush meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin today at the Bush family home at Kennebunkport, Maine. The President’s great-grandfather built the Bush estate at Walker’s Point, a rocky strip of land that juts into the Atlantic Ocean. Also vacationing with GWB are his daughter, Barbara, and his mother and father. The trio also got in some fishing, Barbara and her dad (who will turn 61 this month) each caught a fish. Bush goes biking, fishing ahead of meeting with Russian president By Deb Riechmann, Associated Press Writer, June...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: The President, First Lady Laura Bush, and their daughter Jenna spent this weekend at the family's ranch, where a heavy rainstorm closed the main road into Crawford, Texas, today. The downpour so heavy that high water covered the road leading into Crawford. The local fire department blocked the road with fire trucks and turned back motorists. Harris County had been under a flash flood watch earlier today, but the National Weather Service cancelled the watch this afternoon. President Bush Unwraps Father's Day Gifts Jun.17, AP - It was Father's Day on the ranch for President...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: President Bush spent some quiet time at Camp David before returning to the White House earlier today. Tomorrow he will participate in the annual Memorial Day commemoration at Arlinton National Cemetary. The First Lady was in Phoenix on Friday and Dallas on Saturday, where she attended a viewing of a new exhibit featuring more than 100 creations by Spanish designer Cristobal Balenciaga (1895-1972), and of designers he influenced, such as Oscar de la Renta. Mrs. Bush will return to Washington by Sunday evening, so she can join her husband in the Memorial Day commemoration. Today...

. Today, President Bush Delivered the Commencement Address at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. Transcript Here Various ”Fact Sheets”, “In Focus”, Announcements and Statements may be found HERE The First Lady attended a meeting of the Senate Women's Caucus on Burma on Capitol Hill. Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne Cheney, pose with their sixth grandchild, Samuel David Cheney - Congratulations Vice President Cheney and Lynne! Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: President and Mrs. Bush welcomed NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and his wife to Prairie Chapel Ranch today. Talks between the two leaders were expected to focus on Afghanistan, where NATO troops are fighting a newly emboldened Taliban enemy. NATO chief in Texas for talks with Bush on Afghanistan by Laurent Lozano 1 hour, 18 minutes ago CRAWFORD, United States (AFP) - US President George W. Bush welcomed Sunday NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at his Texas ranch for talks focused largely on fighting a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan. Bush himself...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: President and Mrs. Bush spent the weekend in Washington where they attended the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner last night. The Washington Post described the President's appearance this way: The evening took a turn toward the somber when the President took the stage. After a videotaped message from David Letterman ("Top 10 George W. Bush Moments"), he said, "In light of this week's tragedy at Virginia Tech I've decided not to be funny." And with that he handed the lectern over to Rich Little. "I'm not here to make any political points," the veteran...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: President and Mrs. Bush, and Mrs. Jenna Bush, the First Lady's mother, arrived back at the White House from Camp David earlier today. Congress returns from its Easter break tomorrow, and the Democrats are bent on doing everything possible to hamstring the President and throw as much manufactured mud at him as possible. In the meantime, President Bush recently read a new book about presidential politics in the 1920's, and liked the book so much he wrote the author. What does President George W. Bush read to relax?New York (PRWEB) April 15, 2007 -- Recently...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: President and Mrs. Bush returned from Camp David this morning while the usual suspects were out on the Sunday morning talk shows stabbing him in the back again. In his March 25 piece, columnist Robert Novak -- who never fails to examine a single flea while the dog's health suffers -- gives a typical arrogant media analysis of why President Bush will not attend this year's Gridiron Dinner. Bush steers clear of Gridiron dinner, fearing hostile reception from reportersThe reason given by the White House for President Bush's missing the 122nd annual Washington Gridiron dinner...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: As the President and First Lady spent a quiet Sunday in the White House, word broke that U.S. and Iraqi forces entered Sadr City today. U.S., Iraqi forces enter Shiite center By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer 57 minutes ago BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi troops poured into Baghdad's main Shiite militia stronghold Sunday, encountering no resistance in the one-time Sadr City combat zones but testing the Shiites' commitment to the U.S.-promoted campaign to drive militants from the capital. Outside Baghdad, U.S. soldiers described a raid last week that uncovered a suspected Sunni "torture...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: President and Mrs. Bush spent the weekend in snowy Washington where they attended services at St. John's this morning. Thanks to our (in my view, terribly short-sighted) 22nd Amendment, which instantly weakens all newly elected 2nd term presidents, and our increasingly (stupid, in my view) early presidential wannabe cycle, Left-wing historians are already trying to spin GWB's legacy in a severely negative light. Fortunately, the President, himself, takes a much longer view than his present-day enemies. However, we are a nation that turned a genuinely mediocre, even dangerous president, John Kennedy, into some mythologically great...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: The big news is that, with Valentine's Day fast approaching, there may be a budding romance in the White House. No, it's not one of the twins, but you'll have to scroll down to find out who. ;-) President Bush spoke to the House Democratic Issues Conference in Williamsburg, Virginia, today. I'm sure elsewhere on FR the hysterics are bashing him for attending this conference, but the office he holds is President of the United States. As such, he is President of all the people and is obliged to work with their representatives, including the...

Laura Bush, who traveled in Paris to meet other First Ladies about the youth defense program, met French journalist of the newspaper "Paris Match". Here is an extract of what she said : Paris-match: "last week, during a handing-over of medals to wounded soldiers back from Iraq, we saw a tear on the cheek of president Bush. How do you support this war with the daily newspapers? Do you leave Iraq on the Oval office, or do you continue to talk about it? Laura Bush: Of course, we talk about it. To be a president of the United States is...