It’s a reasonable question, given the two women’s contrasting pasts and almost opposite way they’ve occupied the East Wing.
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But on Thursday the two sought to convince the crowd their relationship was more than a political alliance born out of shared interests.
The 52-year-old wife of President Barack Obama has energized the Democratic camp with a series of speeches taking Trump to task for his strident rhetoric and for what she brands his “frightening” attitude towards women.
Clinton holds the momentum as the clock ticks down to Election Day, the polls crediting her with a compelling lead over Trump, but her Republican rival has pledged to pour millions more of his own dollars into his teetering White House bid.
But the tensions of 2008 have long evaporated. Clinton asked, as a crowd in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, answered with cheers.
“If Hillary Clinton wins the state of Iowa, it’s going to be because of her ground game”, said Norm Sterzenbach, the former executive director of the Iowa Democratic Party.
“She is absolutely ready to be commander in chief on day one – and, yes, she happens to be a woman”, the first lady said, rattling off her counterpart’s resume to thunderous applause.
In September, Obama had an overflow crowd of 20,000+ at Metropolitan Park. “She speaks with a sense of authenticity that has resonated with voters”.
Clinton continued to pile on the praise as FLOTUS sat on stage behind her.
During a rare joint appearance with Clinton at a North Carolina election rally on October 27, Michelle contrasted Clinton’s vision of a “powerful, vibrant and strong” nation with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s vision of “hopelessness and despair”. The now first lady then took a not-so subtle dig at Mrs Clinton, telling voters that “if you can’t run your own house, you certainly can’t run the White House”.
It’s notable that the ad opens with – and it’s YouTube screenshot features – Michelle Obama.
“I know there are some folks out there commenting that it’s unprecedented for a sitting first lady to be so actively involved … in a campaign”, Obama said.
Mrs. Obama also accused Trump’s campaign of trying to depress voter turnout and panned his provocative assertion that the results of the November 8 contest may be rigged. “She has handled them with pure grace”.
“The more emails WikiLeaks releases, the more the lines between the Clinton Foundation, the secretary of state’s office, and the Clintons’ personal finances are blurred”, Trump told thousands of supporters who jammed a livestock arena in Springfield.
But the Clinton campaign hopes Mrs Obama’s imprimatur will help galvanise female voters, especially black women. “It will be because we didn’t stand with her”.
Smiti Kaul, a sophomore at Wake Forest University, once supported Bernie Sanders but said she was swayed to back Clinton in part because of surrogates like Obama.
“Casting our vote is the ultimate way we go high when they go low”, she said.
While Obama won the state in 2012 by portraying Romney as an out-of-touch plutocrat, this year’s GOP nominee has tapped into the state’s well-known populist streak with his anti-trade, anti-elitist message.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC News: If she wins, are you prepared to work with her?
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But with the mishap coming in the final throes of a combative campaign that will be decided November 8, several Twitter users described it as a metaphor for the 2016 race.
