Let’s start with Michelle: comfortable, confident, and would you look at those toned arms! Wearing Jason Wu, her wedding ring, some simple earrings and not much else, Mrs. Obama looks perfectly at home on the cover of the world’s most influential fashion magazine.

What’s really great about this cover is that it has nothing to do with the fashion, but everything to do with the woman. The clothing is simply the backdrop and just becomes her. Even the headlines are appropriate, which is also something I feel hasn’t happened for awhile at Vogue.

See more images from the Annie Leibovitz-shoot done the Hay-Adams Hotel in DC last month, and read Andre Leon Tally‘s story Leading Lady now at Style.com

Yes, Michelle Obama wore a red and black dress by Narciso Rodriguez the day her husband won the presidential election. She’s worn Thakoon. She’s embellished her dresses with Erickson Beamon brooches. She wore a dress from White House | Black Market when she appeared on The View. She’s even worn leggings and owns a belt by Azzedine Alaïa. She also wears color.

And OMG, she wore a beaded lemongrass-colored Isabel Toledo frock the day of the inauguration and a pretty, prom-ish one-shoulder gown by Jason Wu for the inaugural balls. So, after all of that, Michelle Obama is fashion’s new savior – and of course she’ll be gracing the March 2009 cover of Vogue.

The thing is: Michelle is to the fashion industry what Barack is to the entire nation, and perhaps the world – she’s a symbol of hope; a symbol of change; a symbol away from the good ol’ boys – a step in a new direction.

About five years ago I decided to pour my heart and soul into the fashion industry even though it pays nothing and most people don’t respect it (or the people who work in it) at all. I have always believed that fashion holds tremendous power – that designers are artists in their own right, that publicists are creative individuals, that fashion assistants are some of the most passionate people I have ever met – that it is as powerful visually as it is in countless other ways. A dress is a dress, sure, but some dresses are much more than that.

While I do not believe that one person alone can save an entire nation, or even a single industry, I do believe that a single person can inspire infectious hope in others. So let Michelle Obama’s fashion choices inspire you not only to simply go out and buy green gloves from JCrew, but to forge ahead in a brand (ha ha) new direction.

This year’s election has sparked interest in many fashionable people including Pharrell Williams, Jay-Z, Russell Simmons, designers Maria Cornejo, Vera Wang, Alexander Wang, Charles Nolan, Tory Burch, Narciso Rodriguez, Zac Posen, Nanette Lepore, Tracy Reese, Lutz & Patmos, Juicy Couture, Rachel Roy, Rag and Bone, Derek Lam, Isaac Mizrahi, Diane von Furstenberg, Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler, Brian Reyes, Jeffery Costello and Robert Tagliapietra – and they’re all contributing their talents to the Obama campaign with ‘Runway to Change‘

Roy’s scarf is great (but I’m a total scarf-girl), Wang’s tank is uber cool (and it’s only $45), and Derek Lam’s tote ($75) does the best at making politics pretty. Really people, who needs the presidential debates when you can just go shopping?

I just wonder why Thakoon isn’t part of this since he’s dressing Michelle Obama left and right these days… (and thanks to my politically minded fashionable friend Brooke for pointing this out to me!)

And while I hated Bazaar’s American Dream story starring the horrible Tyra Banks, their latest (and very serious) political celebrity feature is nothing short of fabulous.

No longer in the big house, Bazaar puts Paris Hilton in the White Pink House. According to the mag, Paris has a supersize ego, is used to dealing with juicy scandals, and certainly understands out-of-control spending, so she’d be perfect as president. Read below for a selection of their Politically Incorrect article along with my much-needed comments:

Harper’s Bazaar: How would you describe your presidential style?

Paris Hilton: I pledge to support the American workforce by wearing only American designers: Calvin Klein between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Donna Karan the rest of the year. Unless I wake up and the day is screaming for me to put on a bikini for my fellow Americans. Country first.

Casey: Calvin Klein, Donna Karan? Great designers, yes, but those are the good ol’ boys of fashion. What about the small emerging American designers? You know Paris, Michelle Obama has rocked Thakoon at least twice now.

HB: Who will be your vice president?

PH: Rihanna, of course. She’s hot.

Casey: Rihanna is hot, no doubt, but seriously – what about the winner of your new MTV show? How will your new BFF feel when you drop her like she’s hot? I guess it doesn’t really matter. Maybe she could be an intern.

HB: How do you intend to redecorate the White House?

PH: In these trying economic times, I believe the White House should have a minimalist touch: open floor plan, glass and steel, throw pillows, and an infinity pool.

Casey: The infinity pool is a great addition. I also think that if you should have a rotating round bed installed and stripper poles placed in every room – you might want to beef up the camera surveillance as well.

HB: Please summarize your presidential platform.

PH: I will carry out a foreign-policy platform that will transform America’s role in the world to that of a proactive, not reactive, superpower that will use diplomacy and incentives to head off trouble in unstable regions before they unravel out of control. I will also be wearing platform shoes when I meet with foreign dignitaries to accentuate my well-toned calves.

Casey: I second the wearing of platforms.

HB: Who will you appoint to your cabinet posts?

PH: I won’t have a cabinet; I will have a closet. A giant walk-in closet with all styles of advisers, like Michael Kors, Kanye West, Diane von Furstenberg, Naughty by Nature, Stephen Hawking, Madonna, Karl Lagerfeld, and, of course, Tinkerbell.

Casey: OMG – what about Rachel Zoe?! I Die!!

HB: Who will you invite to stay overnight in the Lincoln Bedroom?

PH: I want to put an end to only large financial contributors, lobbyists, inside-the-Beltway fat cats, and corporate bigwigs getting to sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom. I will keep that room open only for people for whom it is too late to drive after attending one of my secret-underground-bunker-after-hours parties.

Casey: Come on Paris – you can tell us! Is it Benji? Who?

And if you haven’t seen her fabulous campaign video, please do so now and then vote below, bitches!

This weekend I was surrounded by boys who did little but talk about Sarah Palin (McCain’s newly appointed vice-presidential candidate), her kid with down syndrome, her pregnant 17-year-old daughter, and any possible conspiracy theory they could find online.

Fashion has also gone all political on me as well. The industry is all abuzz over Michelle Obama and her simply astonishing sense of fashion. Her favorite designer (and Chicago native) Maria Pinto has enjoyed quite a lot of coverage lately (including quite a write-up in The New York Times), but Thakoon hit a high note on Thursday, when Michelle wore a dress from his pre-spring 09 collection during the Democratic National Convention. She always wore some more brooches by Erickson Beamon.

And unfortunately, you know that Michelle Obama was the inspiration behind Harper’s Bazaar’s September spread of Tyra Banks posing as the first lady in their story ‘American Dream‘ – more like American nightmare, but whatever.

The thing is, I agree that Michelle Obama has a much better sense of style than those in political circles seem to have, but I also feel like the fashion industry is going crazy about it. Other fashion bloggers have written about the fact that she choose a dress by Thakoon, ‘fashion insider favorite’ like it’s the most telling thing in the world. Like, she’s so in, she’s the next Jackie-O, she’s gonna save our industry, etc… I think, ‘maybe she shops at Barneys’ or ‘maybe she has a stylist’.

Anyway, I guess I’d better get used to all of this political drama and talk ’cause it isn’t going away any time soon…