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A First Lady Who Demands Substance
The Washington Post ^ | June 25, 2009 | Lois Romano

Posted on 06/25/2009 11:46:25 AM PDT by Neverforget01

For weeks, Michelle Obama had been telling her staff and closest confidantes that she wasn't having the impact she wanted. She is a woman of substance, with a background in law, public policy and management, who found herself relegated to role model in chief. The West Wing of the White House -- the fulcrum of power and policy -- had not fully integrated her into its agenda. She wanted more.

snip

Her new chief of staff, Susan Sher, 61, is a close friend and former boss who the first lady thinks will be more forceful about getting her and her team on the West Wing's radar screen. The first thing Sher said she told senior adviser David Axelrod, whom she has known for years: When I call, "you need to get back to me right away."

snip

Although Obama's job-approval ratings have soared, the first lady -- a Harvard-educated lawyer -- wasn't satisfied with coasting. She is hiring a full-time speechwriter and has instructed her staff to think "strategically" so that every event has a purpose and a message. She doesn't want to simply go to events and hug struggling military families, she said; she wants to show progress.

snip

Every morning, Rogers and Sher attend White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's 8:15 staff meeting. Johnston, a newcomer to Obama's circle but a White House veteran, and Katie McCormick Lelyveld, the first lady's press secretary, sit in on White House press secretary Robert Gibbs's daily message meeting. As part of the president's domestic policy team,

snip

They're all focused on raising the stakes. "It isn't just about hugging," Sher said. "Whatever she talks about will bring press and interest, but it's important that she's not just talking [but] actually moving forward on those issues."

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: barfalert; bowdowntothewookie; chewbaccamichelle; firstlady; flotusmichelle; gildedwookie; gooniegoogoo; michelle; michelleobama; roles
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Hillary redux?


1 posted on 06/25/2009 11:46:25 AM PDT by Neverforget01
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To: Neverforget01

LeBron without the tats.


2 posted on 06/25/2009 11:47:34 AM PDT by LS ("Castles made of sand, fall in the sea . . . eventually." (Hendrix))
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To: Neverforget01

She obviously didn’t demand much when picking a husband, but he was articulate and clean.


3 posted on 06/25/2009 11:49:17 AM PDT by OB1kNOb (Prepare.)
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To: Neverforget01

She’s not `coasting’ here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig_2k9aDhpE


4 posted on 06/25/2009 11:51:30 AM PDT by tumblindice
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To: Neverforget01
"Although Obama's job-approval ratings have soared"

Yeah; especially among the "millions of jobs" holders that were hired as a result of porkulus....

/sarc

WP is a lyin' fishwrapper State-run media outlet.

5 posted on 06/25/2009 11:51:41 AM PDT by traditional1 ("Don't gots to worry 'bout no mo'gage, don't gots to buy no gas...Obama gonna take care o' me!")
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To: Neverforget01

6 posted on 06/25/2009 11:52:23 AM PDT by NMEwithin
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To: Neverforget01
She is a woman of substance, with a background in law, public policy and management

They must be referring to the law license that she gave up and that $300K a year job doing community outreach for the U of Chicago hospital, a job that was abolished after she resigned.

7 posted on 06/25/2009 11:53:57 AM PDT by Rummyfan (Iraq: it's not about Iraq anymore, it's about the USA!)
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To: Neverforget01
background in law, public policy and management,

This line alone almost rises to BARF ALERT level. Law = affirmative action admit; public policy = needed a person of color; management = big $$$$ job because of hubby's ability to deliver the goods from the public coffers.

8 posted on 06/25/2009 11:54:43 AM PDT by T-Bird45 (It feels like the seventies, and it shouldn't.)
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To: Neverforget01

Michelle the arugula needs picked. Now get at it.


9 posted on 06/25/2009 11:55:27 AM PDT by A message (3 years 6 months 3 weeks 3 days)
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To: Neverforget01

Do not participate in policy matters, Michelle.
Just fair warning.


10 posted on 06/25/2009 11:55:35 AM PDT by griswold3
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To: Rummyfan

I don’t recall Michelle being on the ballot last November.


11 posted on 06/25/2009 11:57:36 AM PDT by p. henry
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To: Rummyfan
Michelle Obama Is The “Specifically Named Individual” On Page 64 of The Affidavit Submitted by FBI in the Blago Case. Will any of them be Scooterized in a process-crime scenario (/ rhetorical question...)
12 posted on 06/25/2009 11:59:09 AM PDT by SERKIT ("Blazing Saddles" explains it all.....)
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To: p. henry
Exactly - who voted her queen....nevermind.

Co-Empress?

13 posted on 06/25/2009 11:59:13 AM PDT by elk
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To: Neverforget01

14 posted on 06/25/2009 11:59:28 AM PDT by NMEwithin
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To: Neverforget01
found herself relegated to role model in chief

It worries me that she wants a bigger role, because that will take away from her role modeling (there are only so many hours in a day) and I'll be left rudderless.

15 posted on 06/25/2009 12:01:01 PM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican ("During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." --Orwell)
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To: Neverforget01
I must had missed something last Nov.because I never saw her listed as a candidate in the voting booth.
16 posted on 06/25/2009 12:02:24 PM PDT by taxtruth
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To: Neverforget01

Why oh why does the election of a Democratic President mean that his wife fills in as a Co-President?


17 posted on 06/25/2009 12:03:30 PM PDT by notpoliticallycorewrecked (According to the MSM, I'm a fringe sitting, pajama wearing Freeper)
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To: NMEwithin

What was it that Patton said about “shovelin’ sh*t in Mississippi” during the war?

Oh - Right. The presstitues in ABCNNBCBS aren’t about covering issues anymore: instead, they cover her dresses, her very, very, very expensive dates and invent a “style” ....


18 posted on 06/25/2009 12:04:40 PM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but socialists' ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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To: Neverforget01

what Mrs. Zero doesn’t get, is, she IS the ‘hugging’ arm of the presidency - American’s don’t want two presidents.

and, if Mrs. Zero wants to be a Hillary, then she’s no longer off limits politically, including criticism for comments about not wanting to be limited to hugging ‘struggling military’ families.


19 posted on 06/25/2009 12:05:21 PM PDT by blueplum
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To: Neverforget01

Time for the taxpayers to quit paying for the First Grandma to live in the White House. Send her back to Chi-Town, and Michelle can take care of her daughters.


20 posted on 06/25/2009 12:06:07 PM PDT by Night Hides Not (If Dick Cheney = Darth Vader, then Joe Biden = Dark Helmet)
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