ABC News' Jennifer Parker reports: Presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said conservative criticism of his wife, Michelle, infuriates him.
"I don't have a thick skin when it comes to criticism of my wife," Obama told the women's magazine Glamour in an interview to run in the magazine's October issue. "And you know, the problem is that rarely do these folks have the guts to say it to your face."
Obama, who is vying for the support of women voters who flocked to Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign during the primaries, argued his wife and Clinton have been the target of similar conservative attacks.
"Hillary Clinton was subject to this, others have been subject to this in the past," Obama told Glamour editor -in-chief Cindi Leive Wednesday, "It is part of our political environment that I'd like to change."
Asked whether he blamed Sen. John McCain's campaign for the attacks, Obama said, "I wouldn't say the McCain campaign itself, but I would say that the apparatus of conservative columnists, blogs and the like. Talk shows, talk radio....When you see in the span of two or three or four weeks essentially the same talking points being used on a whole variety of shows or a whole variety of columns, over and over again."
Michelle Obama sparked conservative outrage when she said during the primaries it was "the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country."
She later clarified her remarks, but conservative media outlets repeatedly replayed the tape and the Tennessee Republican Party launched an online video criticizing her. Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin called her Obama's "bitter half," and the conservative National Review magazine called her "Mrs. Grievance."
Obama said a barrage of conservative attacks against his wife has taken "a toll." Michelle Obama is viewed more favorably than Cindy McCain, 48 percent to 39 percent, according to a June ABC News/Washington Post poll, however her negative ratings are also higher.
"It's infuriating, but it's not surprising," Obama said, "because let's face it: what happened was that the conservative press -- Fox News and the National Review and columnists of every ilk -- went fairly deliberately at her in a pretty systematic way, and treated her as the candidate in a way that you just rarely see the Democrats try to do against Republicans."
"I've said this before: I would never have my campaign engage in a concerted effort to make Cindy McCain an issue, and I would not expect the Democratic National Committee or people who were allied with me to do it. Because essentially, spouses are civilians. They didn't sign up for this. They're supporting their spouse," Obama said, "So it took a toll. If you start being subjected to rants by Sean Hannity and the like, day in day out, that'll drive up your negatives....."
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