What else did she have going for her?  No senate worthy record . . . except her publicity as FLOTUS (anti-gay marriage, anti-welfare, pro-incarceration, etc.).  Time on the board at Walmart? (Again, based on her marriage, not her merits.)  Childrens Defense Fund?  Not many folks make it to the senate running on a platform based on a decades old progressive one-off they took part in.