From one mom to another: Should Obama run? A letter writer tells his wife, Michelle: 'I wonder how on earth you and your family will make this decision. . . . It could well mean the word no one wants to say: "assassination" '

Dear Michelle Obama,

The holiday season is here, and many of us are snuggled with our families eating, opening gifts, and enjoying the love and comfort of our children and spouses.

This feeling of family must be weighing very heavily on you right now. Your husband is the man of the hour, and the whole country is waiting to see if he will run for president.

The decision is not one to be taken lightly by any family -- but the Obamas' are not any family. I don't need to tell you that, I know.

As I sit here with my two young children, I think of you often. I wonder how you weigh what could be one of the most important candidacies in American history, and what we all hold the closest. How does a family like yours decide between changing the world and risking your lives? Between making history and making a normal childhood for your daughters? Between public service and suburban bliss?

I look at my husband and my two beautiful children, and I wonder how on earth you and your family will make this decision. It would be a sacrifice, no question. Possibly the biggest sacrifice a family could make. We all know it wouldn't just be the usual pressures of the job or public life, it could very well mean the word no one wants to say but everyone is thinking: "assassination."

The ugly truth is some in America may not be ready to see a black family in the White House. The ugly truth is the decision to run for president could mean the death of your husband or family member or yourself. Is any job worth it? I don't know. There are no easy answers. Would I risk my own family to change the world? I don't know. I honestly do not know.

Here I spend my entire day thinking about how to protect my children. That is what a mother does. She protects, she teaches, she does what is best for them. Everyone else be damned, she does what is best for them. But how on earth does a mother begin to decide between what is best for her children and changing history. Very few individuals have ever had to make this decision. I don't envy them. Just thinking about what you may or may not be thinking is enough for me.

I'm sure everyone in the world is giving you advice right now. I won't presume to know enough about what you are going through to even try to give you any. What I will tell you, though, is you already have the respect of many mothers in this country.

The simple fact that I know you are weighing this decision with such intensity makes me like you and your husband even more. It confirms to me you are the type of people I think you are: smart, loving, educated, and with great common sense. Frankly, it makes me want your husband in the Oval Office even more. I'm just not sure my needs outweigh the cost to you and yours. I don't want to seem like a selfish American, but it will take something BIG to give hope to this country and those of us disheartened, disenfranchised, and just plain disgusted with the current state of affairs. Yes, I want Senator Barack Obama to be that something big. I want him to be the answer. I want to ask you to support his run in 2008. But I can't. I can't ask you to do it for me. I can't ask you to do it for the children or for the future or for the good of mankind. You are a mother, like I am a mother, and I know I can't ask that of you.

I can only wait.

Whatever you decide, the Moms, if no one else, will understand and have your back. If you make the choice to change the world, we'll be there with flags flying, and we'll remember the sacrifice your family is making for ours. If you decide to refrain from the Oval Office, we Moms will know exactly why. We will not for a moment question the protection of your family.

May you enjoy this holiday season with those you love and hold them close,

Erin Kotecki Vest

This column first appeared at huffingtonpost.com

WEB FEEDBACK

If Mrs. Obama supports her husband on his campaign, she'll be doing a lot of people a big favor.

Aserano

Michelle Obama will make a great First Lady. RUN OBAMA RUN!!!

PurplePolitics

Please don't lump everyone who does not want Obama (and I'm one of them; I think he's in the corporate back pocket and I don't think we need a president who writes books about the importance of Jesus in his life; we've got a religious nut case now) into the racist category. There are reasons other than race to not want Obama.

RnR

This letter to Michelle Obama is just what I was thinking and very much afraid of. JFK was supposed to have protection . . . but . . . same as his brother . . . all the protection in the world cannot stop assassination if the "right" organization orders it. I as so many do would love to see Barack Obama in the Oval Office . . . but I do not want to see anything happen to him. --asafox

Wait a minute. A black person doesn't have to run for president to be killed. I suspect, Mrs. Obama and her husband will make the decision the same way white people do. We black people make that decision every time we leave our house and get in a car.

Waitaminute

I found this to be a very creepy letter. Please . . . really? Is everyone thinking of "assassination"?? Erin says she wants Obama to be the president but then "warns" Michelle that it will cost her, her family. She goes ahead to remind Michelle that her real duty is toward her children and no one else. "Everyone else be damned, she [a mother] does what is best for them." This letter sounds like a warning to Michelle not to let her husband run for presidency or else.