Michelle's Image: From Off-Putting To Spot-On
By Lois Romano
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 31, 2009; Page 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.
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