Michelle's Image: From Off-Putting To Spot-On

By Lois Romano
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 31, 2009; C01

At first, they didn't like the way she was talking about her husband's dirty socks. Then, they said she always looked angry. Later, they questioned her patriotism when she commented that she only recently became proud of her country. They even made hay over her biceps when she dared show up sleeveless for her husband's address to Congress in January.

Now, two months into her husband's presidency, as Michelle Obama embarks on her maiden official overseas trip, the first lady is enjoying a second look from the American public -- particularly from those who were put off by her as a candidate's wife, but are warming to her as the president's wife.

A Washington Post-ABC News survey conducted over the past few days shows a dramatic turnaround: Her favorability ratings are at 76 percent, up 28 points since summer. The number of people who view her negatively has plummeted. Her most striking inroads have come among Republicans who viewed her negatively last year, perhaps in part because of comments she made about feeling proud of her country for the first time.

Selected poll respondents re-interviewed yesterday said their views were positively influenced by her focus on children and family, her devotion to her own family, and by the symbolic gesture of her planting the first White House vegetable garden since Eleanor Roosevelt.

Still, voters articulated complex feelings about her as they process the many facets of her life -- middle-class upbringing, Ivy League education, professional, wife, mother of two, African American woman.

Listen to Maxine Furlong, a Republican from Upstate New York who initially was not a fan:

"Eventually, she will be a great first lady," said Furlong, who's 34 and white. "She definitely has this black woman's attitude. . . . White girls have more insecurities, which is why they care more about being ingratiating. I'm not saying this is a bad thing -- I like that about her -- but she's just a very strong woman and that can come off as condescending." Accompanying her husband to the G20 summit in London, Michelle Obama will branch out on several solo stops overseas, not unlike her inner-city Washington excursions as first lady. In London, she'll visit a school for underprivileged girls, where students are encouraged to "dream without limits" and English is a second language for many.

She is increasingly referred to as a role model, and seems to be evolving into an iconic presence, like Princess Diana and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, whose every fashion choice and mannerism is imitated. The British media, in fact, have likened her to both women.

In interviews with The Post, voters who earlier this month responded to a Washington Post-ABC News survey about President Obama at first said they haven't been following her, and didn't know what she's been doing. But with a little prodding, they demonstrated that they knew quite a bit about her official activities. While most offered positive reviews of her performance, almost everyone commented that she had not yet adopted any one cause as her own, and recommended that she do so.

Republicans said she no longer looks as "angry" as she did during the campaign. Democrats who were inclined to like her, said she seemed happier and more relaxed. "My feeling is that she was ambivalent about him running and then got over it," said Democrat Nancy Thompson, a small business owner and freelance writer from Washington state.

Michelle Obama's visits to homeless shelters and soup kitchens have not gone unnoticed. This month, she dispatched an army of famous women throughout the city's troubled schools to inspire students. "I really like that she's out there trying to encourage kids to make something of themselves," said Bill Mazzilli, a Florida independent who voted for John McCain.

Said Randy Levensalor, an independent from Colorado who leans Republican, "I don't see the angry Michelle anymore."

At times during the campaign, Michelle Obama was considered a political liability. She came across to some as hard-edged, and at first, didn't seem gung-ho about her husband's candidacy. Political opponents and right-leaning media -- who carefully steered clear of racial references when it came to Barack Obama, had no qualms about channeling race through his wife. During one Fox News show, Bill O'Reilly asked if she was an "angry black woman."

She was criticized when, in her early presidential campaign speeches, she complained that her husband didn't pick up his dirty socks and was "stinky" when he awoke. "Forgive me if I'm a little stunned by this whole Barack Obama thing," she would say. Her audiences laughed, but in the retelling, the references sounded like put-downs. In the heat of the 2008 campaign last February, she hit her lowest point when she told a Milwaukee crowd, "For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country, because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback." Her detractors had a field day -- and Democrats cringed. The comment came to define her.

"Until the Democratic convention, it was largely what people knew about her," said White House senior adviser David Axelrod. "Once she was able to tell her story, her numbers moved overnight. "I don't mean by a little, I mean by a lot."

Axelrod acknowledged that Michelle Obama, 45, may in fact seem more content because she has her husband in the same house after four years on the road -- first in Washington when he was a senator, and then on the campaign trail. "As with any family, it's better when they have the ability to reunite and be together. . . . They eat dinner together almost every night," he said.

First ladies can be typecast fairly quickly, and the public has historically handed them tall orders. They are expected to be refined but not elitist, smart but not opinionated, and passionate about those less fortunate. Since moving into the White House, Michelle Obama has met many of those expectations for numerous people.

At first calling herself mom-in-chief and emphasizing that her first priority was getting her children settled, she has since taken on community and political projects, and even dared to have some fun by arranging for the White House fountain to spout green water for Saint Patrick's Day. She told one interviewer she was worried about her hips and denied being pregnant to another. She pushed for her husband's stimulus package as she made an unprecedented tour of the federal agencies. And she has made an unexpected commitment to the capital, intent on offering hope to inner-city girls.

"You know, what I want you all to know is that there is no magic to being here . . . my parents were working-class people. My father was a city worker," she told students recently. "We didn't have a lot of money. We lived on the South Side of Chicago. I lived in the same house that my mother still lives in now."

Lynne Klaczak, a Florida Republican sees Obama as "a thoroughly modern woman. She's like, 'If you ask me my opinion I'm going to give it.' I don't have a problem with that," she said. "I do think all this focus on her fashion distracts from real issues about women and families where she could make an impact."

She hasn't won over everyone. "I don't much care for her and it has nothing to do with her color or race or anything," said Beverly Watson, 61, a Tennessee Republican. "She just seems to have a big attitude, like she's just above everyone else."

But voters repeatedly said Michelle Obama seems like a neighbor -- just a working mom juggling many of the same issues that plague every household.

Kelly Lavalle, a 30-year-old financial adviser from Connecticut, is a Republican who voted for John McCain but today sees Michelle Obama as a modern role model. "Working mothers can relate to the fact that she can incorporate a sense of style with her life as a mother and a serious professional," said Lavalle.

"You know," said New York Republican Maxine Furlong. "They remind me of just a regular couple who won the lottery."