She is far and away the most popular figure in the Obama administration, but several recent moves by Michelle Obama could put some tarnish on her sterling public image.
“She is taking some risks,” said Cindy Rugeley, a political scientist at Texas Tech University.
As new figures released Friday showed the nation’s unemployment rate the highest in 26 years, the first lady jetted to Paris with daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, to meet up with the traveling president and stay a few extra days to celebrate Sasha’s eighth birthday.
Michelle Obama has intentionally stayed out of the public policy fray — until last week, when she delivered a high school commencement speech that included a strong endorsement of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.
The Obamas raised eyebrows with a flashy, taxpayer-financed date night in New York, featuring dinner and a show. What started out as a relatively minor event suggesting at worst some economic tone-deafness was compounded by subsequent White House refusals to divulge the costs.
The first lady abruptly replaced her chief of staff last week with no public explanation, and even her organic garden on the South Lawn is being criticized, according to a Slate magazine piece detailing the umbrage of the non-organic agricultural industry.
Michelle Obama’s public approval ratings — 72 percent in April, compared with 69 percent for the president — can be traced in part to her personal charm and the deliberate way she inhabits the first lady role.
Taking on very few public events and making savvy choices such as insisting on using her own, affordable wardrobe for magazine shoots proved a successful formula for the first lady’s public image, and suggested an astute attention to political appearances.
“Where the risk comes in is Paris family vacations or international jet-setting,” Rugeley said. “Over time, it will start to raise the question of whether she is really like the rest of us, and is she sensitive to the suffering of many people in the country.”
The Obamas are expected to reimburse the government for the vacation-related costs of the Paris trip, but once again the White House is not expected to release the figures. The president last week defended his family’s taxpayer-financed trips to NBC News.
“I think if you looked at the trips we’ve taken or the costs we’ve incurred, they stack up very favorably to any previous presidents,” he said.
The first lady’s Sotomayor statements, in which Obama said she identified strongly with the federal judge’s experience as a female minority in the Ivy League, was a noteworthy venture into a public policy debate.
If nothing else, Obama appears to be pushing tentatively against the boundaries she set for herself in defining the first lady role.
The Obama’s date night, meanwhile, which fulfilled a promise the president made to his wife during the campaign, is shaping up to be something many are willing to give the first couple a pass on — as long as it doesn’t become a habit.
“What is Michelle doing differently than another woman with a husband and kids?” said Kathryn McNiel, a Democratic consultant. “She is supporting women achieving, taking care of her marriage and spending time with her children — sounds like a script from ‘Happy Days.’ ”
