Excessive coolness and pop culture appeal alone won’t carry Sen. Barack Obama to the White House, but it certainly never hurt anyone.

Witness the cover of the new Us Weekly.

Up there with The Hills’ Lauren Conrad, the pregnant Angelina Jolie and scandalous Linda Hogan is … America’s potential next First Lady!

Michelle Obama, who hosted The View yesterday, has been a lightning rod for controversy throughout the campaign. But she also holds youthful charisma, intelligence and wit that many Americans identify with and gravitate to.

Really, what’s not to love about Michelle Obama?

Growing up on Chicago’s working class South Side, she excelled at Princeton and Harvard Law and now, like mothers everywhere, focuses on keeping romance alive, as well as the difficult balancing act of her career and family.

The Obamas. They’re just like us! Okay, maybe not. But better them on the Us Weekly cover than the opposition. You don’t see John and Cindy McCain getting free publicity like this, do you? No, except when she steals recipes.

America’s aspiring First Ladies, Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain, have plenty of differences, but also commonalities we haven’t considered.

While on different ends of the political spectrum, the wives of Barack Obama and John McCain are united in their open dislike of rough-edged American politics.

Each actually tried to talk her spouse out of running for the White House.

Both are very attractive and known for an elegant sense of style, lending glamour to their respective husbands’ presidential campaigns.

Cindy McCain photos in the new issue of Vogue showed a laid-back and barefoot woman in size 0 jeans. Obama, who has also appeared in the fashion magazine, has been compared to the epitome of class, former first lady Jackie Kennedy.

Both women provide huge emotional lifts to their spouses during the grueling campaign schedule. Barack Obama’s mood brightens visibly when his wife joins him. Cindy McCain has similar, noticeable effects on her husband.

On the flip side, Michelle Obama’s penchant for outspokenness has - and surely will continue to draw criticism, while Cindy McCain is more likely to be reserved when on the campaign trail with her husband.

McCain’s deferential manner puts her in the company of traditional first ladies such as Nancy Reagan and Laura Bush, while Obama has been such a force on the campaign trail that she earned the nickname “The Closer.”

Everything about Michelle Obama breaks the traditional First Lady mould - from her career-driven mentality to her pop culture impact (see the fist-bump the Obamas shared on the night he clinched the Democratic nomination).

America has had non-traditional first ladies before, like Rosalynn Carter and (yes) Hillary Clinton. Will Michelle Obama be the next?

The wives’ backgrounds also illustrate distinct differences.

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Forget his stirring speech on Tuesday night. One of the most talked-about moments marking Sen. Barack Obama’s finally clinching the Democratic nomination was his fist-bump on stage with wife Michelle Obama.

Asked about the knocking of knuckles, Barack Obama said that despite all the publicity and stress, he and Michelle “still do silly things.” Indeed!

A fist-bump alone won’t carry Barack and Michelle Obama to the White House, but it does show that the aspiring commander-in-chief is actually kind of cool.

That factor sure didn’t hurt Bill Clinton in 1992. Just saying.

On the flip side of the coolness scale, we have President George W. Bush, who recently went chest to chest with an Air Force Academy graduate.

Okay, we hate to say it, but that was, maybe, just a little bit cool as well. Political opinions aside, we have to credit G-Dubs on his form …

An Air Force grad gets an appropriate send-off from the President.

A feature and photo essay about Cindy McCain, wife of GOP presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, is featured in Vogue magazine’s June issue.

The 54-year-old beauty - a former rodeo queen and current chair of Hensley & Co. - is known for being demure, meticulously, even a bit uptight.

This photo - Cindy McCain wearing jeans, barefoot, perched in a deck chair on a San Diego patio - seeks to shatter these preconceptions…

In Vogue: Cindy McCain relaxes in the magazine’s June issue.

It’s an interesting contrast to Vogue’s recent photo shoot of the other possible next First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, 44.

The Vogue photos shot by Annie Leibovitz (a.k.a. Miley Cyrus’ enabler) paint a fascinating portrait of Democratic Sen. Barack Obama’s wife…

In Vogue: Michelle Obama, as photographed by Annie Leibovitz.

Formal, classic, preppy Michelle Obama pictures like this one conjure up images of Jackie Kennedy - not a surprise, as many in the media compare Barack Obama to Jackie’s young, charismatic late husband.

The Cindy McCain photos, meanwhile, seem to be an attempt to downplay her Stepford Wife qualities and show us her accessible, laid-back, outdoorsy side.

Just how successful are the Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama Vogue photos at altering the perceptions you have? Do you view them more favorably?

Michelle Obama became known as “The Closer” due to her toughness and her ability to close the deal - even more so than Sen. Barack Obama.

But the likely Democratic presidential candidate warned Republicans to back off after the Tennessee GOP posted a video last week hammering his wife.

Several supposedly “unpatriotic” Michelle Obama quotes made while campaigning earlier this year were the primary motivation for the party’s attack ad.

In an interview aired today on Good Morning America, Barack Obama (as has been his custom of late) hit back quickly, warning Republicans:

“The GOP, should I be the nominee, can say whatever they want to say about me, my track record. If they think that they’re going to try to make Michelle an issue in this campaign, they should be careful because that I find unacceptable, the notion that you start attacking my wife or my family.”

“Whoever is in charge of the Tennessee GOP needs to think long and hard about the kind of campaign they want to run, and I think that’s true for everybody, Democrat or Republican. [Michelle] loves this country. For them to try to distort or to play snippets of her remarks in ways that are unflattering to her is, I think, low class. I think that most of the American people would think that as well.”

If gay marriage doesn’t become a frequently debated and divisive issue in the 2008 presidential race, the concept of “Americanism” certainly will.

Welcoming Michelle Obama to the Volunteer State, the Tennessee Republican Party unveiled a video Thursday that highlights her comments earlier this year saying she is proud of America “for the first time in my adult life.”

The four-minute video features Tennesseans saying they are proud of America and why, while lambasting the now-infamous Michelle Obama quotes.

“The Tennessee Republican Party has always been proud of America. To further honor the occasion of Mrs. Obama’s visit, the Tennessee Republican Party has requested the playing of patriotic music by radio stations across the state,” said a statement on the party’s Web site regarding the video.

It’s a clear indication of what awaits Barack and Michelle Obama in the general election, assuming he clinches the Democratic nomination.

In a swipe at both Michelle’s remarks about her pride in America and Barack Obama’s “bitter” comments about small-town Pennsylvanians, the video says:

“While [Michelle Obama] has trouble being proud of the country where she earned degrees from Princeton University and Harvard Law School and then became a multi-millionaire, her husband makes statements that belittle average Americans’ response to the difficulties of life.”

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The more we follow Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign, the more we are convinced that, assuming he holds on and clinches the nomination, he won’t be offering the vice president spot on the Democratic ticket to Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Reason #1: Michelle Obama.

The Democratic front-runner’s wife has not commented directly about other rival candidates for the party’s nomination, but she has been sniping at Hillary Clinton here and there since last summer.

Moreover, according to Obama sources, the various public utterances do not reveal the full extent of Michelle’s hostility towards Clinton.

Michelle Obama won’t want Hillary Clinton on the ticket, rumors say.

Many Democrats have mused over the so-called “dream ticket” for months, the theory being that Obama-Clinton would foster unity and be unbeatable.

It’s hard to see Hillary helping Obama get elected, however (despite her recent assurances that she would campaign for him) - and can you imagine letting an unemployed Bill Clinton loose in the White House with its liquor and women?

Seriously though. An Obama-Clinton ticket would be popular with some voters, but if it actually won, it might turn into a recipe for bitterness, dissent, in-fighting, passive-aggressive rage and general resentment.

What do you think? If Barack Obama holds on and wins the Democratic nomination, should he choose Hillary Clinton as his Vice President?

Another week, another day of primaries in the Democratic presidential race. As expected, each of the co-frontrunners had something to celebrate on this critical election day, pocketing a victory a piece May 6.

Below are some photos of last night’s rallies held by Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama - and their spouses - in Indiana and North Carolina.

Click to enlarge any of the shots of the Clintons and Barack and Michelle Obama photos, and follow the jump for many more May 6 pictures …

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Below are a collection of photos leading up to, during and following the March 4 primary elections in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont.

The tension, celebration, the heartbreak, the endorsement of Sen. John McCain by George W. Bush - we’ve seen a lot in the past 72 hours.

Here are some highlights, with many more after the jump. Click to enlarge and visit our gallery to search even more photos by politician (or spouse).

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We’re not writing Hillary Clinton’s candidacy off, but we’re all very familiar with the former First Lady - as well as the possible future First Gentleman.

Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama, on the other hand, remain a bit of a mystery to many Americans seeing them on the national stage for the first time.

Donkey Dish’s political bios should help you get up to speed on these smart and talented women - as well as the candidates themselves.

We also have ever-expanding galleries of Cindy McCain photos and Michelle Obama photos. Below are just a few - follow the links for many more!

As we come across more quality photos of Michelle, Cindy and other prominent political figures, we’ll add them to our galleries. So check back often!