Michelle Obama: Running for office requires 'a great deal of patience'

First lady Michelle Obama said she did not want to run for elected office because she felt she lacked the patience needed to accomplish change in Washington.

The first lady was asked, in an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters released late Wednesday, why she had ruled out launching a bid for office herself.

"I have learned from my husband, watching him, that it does require a great deal of patience to really feel the full impact of the work that you do on the ground," the first lady said. "It doesn't happen right away."

Although the first lady has not shown an interest in one day running for office, others have suggested she should run. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) said in an interview with Newsweek that Michelle Obama running for office would be a "breath of fresh air in D.C."

"She's honest and straightforward, which is not what you see in Washington much. She is exactly what we need around here," Clyburn said. 

Earlier in December, a Public Policy Polling survey found in a hypothetical matchup between the first lady and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) that Obama would win by double digits. The poll found Obama leading Kirk 51 to 40 percent in a head-to-head matchup. 

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