2012: Is Michelle Obama a Very Special Agent?

In late September, the photo of Michelle Obama pushing her cart in a Target supermarket near Washington could have passed for a snapshot of the 2012 campaign. Rush Limbaugh, the venomous host of the Rush Limbaugh radio show, expected hatred to pour in. But the first housewife of the White House parked her cart. Expected? That’s an understatement. Michelle is a key asset in Barack Obama’s re-election campaign and the more popular person of the couple. Her 65 percent approval rating — she peaked at 73 percent in 2009 — puts her 20 points ahead of her husband. What role will we see her play in the 2012 campaign, she whose independence has been celebrated and whose daily life since 2008 has been a permanent campaign?

2012 is not 2008. The 2008 campaign left her wounded. The Obama campaign team, who found her a little too “natural,” had practically pushed her out of the circuit after she made some shocking statements. She confessed that, “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m really proud of my country,” and then another time, she made a joke about her husband’s normal side, saying that he had morning breath like everyone else. Exit Michelle. She remained a sore spot during the campaign.

Yet, the same campaign team was very happy to find the winner of Forbes’ most influential women in the world jumping on the podium in 2010 when the Democrats were in trouble. For the 2010 midterm elections, starting on Oct. 13, Michelle Obama participated in eight fundraising galas, more as a first lady and first mom than as a political agent. The White House didn’t regret it and hasn’t looked back since.

Her Own Original Place

Since 2008, she has made a name for herself as a popular wife and mother who fights for those who are in trouble. We quickly forgot that she was an active woman with a job, and she was cast in the “first lady” role without any apparent qualms. She was made available and active.

Hence, her ongoing support for women and military families. Hence, her struggle with mothers to improve nutrition for American children, one-third of whom are obese, and the “Let’s Move” campaign with Beyoncé. And also her campaign with students in the black community for a return to their home communities.

In the same spirit, she supports the advancement of women and never fails to stress that it was her husband who named two women to the Supreme Court — Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — and who passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, establishing equal pay between men and women.

Ditto for jobs and women’s issues, which are increasingly vulnerable during crises. Those are the two themes that she has hammered home during the 18 fundraising meetings that she has led since May 2011 from California to Colorado through Utah and … back to Washington.

A Very Personal Tone

No waffling. She draws on her own life experiences to make decisive arguments. The difficulty of single women? Barack’s mother raised her son alone. Her husband’s gray hair? “I see the sadness and worry that’s creasing his face.” California supporters had to deal with it, too. Explaining the frenetic life of the 44th, she says, “This man doesn’t take a day off.” “Believe me, Barack knows what it means when a family struggles. He knows what it means when someone doesn’t have a chance to fulfill their potential.” Her secret: She’s not a candidate.