If popularity ratings are any indication, Michelle Obama has come out with flying colours with 74 per cent approving her job performance in the past six months. Eighteen months ago, when Michelle joined Obama in his presidential campaign, she was described as an angry young woman and a liability to her husband. Today the Americans talk of her warmth, her poise and her accessibility and her popularity.

Michelle's makeover has been carefully planned with every move discussed and debated by her image builders. Michelle is aware of the huge responsibility and told a group of youngsters at Howard University earlier this year: “There isn't a day that goes by, that I don't wonder or worry about whether I'm doing the right thing for myself, for my family, for my girls.”

For the present she is limiting herself by giving interviews to big newspapers like New York Times and Larry King Live of the CNN besides magazines like the Time and the Vogue. Michelle has granted interviews primarily to women's magazines and news channels which highlight her domestic side, her focus on motherhood and her efforts to settle down in the White House and her interest in gardening. She talks about how her two children should strictly adhere to their 8.30 bed times and how her husband spends time with the family and how she gets up early morning to take the dog for a walk.

Traditionally, the First Ladies have their job cut out. They play the loyal dutiful wife and never talk of policies. Eleanor Roosevelt wrote a newspaper column to ventilate her feelings. Betty Ford was a ground breaker and discussed her battle with breast cancer. When Hillary Clinton wanted to be a little proactive on healthcare, she was criticized. But Michelle talks of her daily problems like any other woman. She is careful not to take a wrong step. Michelle is trying to learn from her predecessors and is in contact with former First Ladies like Nancy Reagan and Laura Bush.

Mrs. Obama is in no hurry to show her ambition although everyone knows that the Harvard- Princeton educated Michelle will not remain in the shadows of her husband for long. But for now, she is content to follow a more established path. She has not sat in Cabinet meetings like Rosalynn Carter or launched any major policy initiative.

By now everyone knows that Michelle has her own mind and believes in setting trends as the First Lady. She is determined to tell the world that she is her own woman. Vogue magazine editors were surprised when Michelle landed up with her own make-up woman and hair stylists for a Vogue cover story. The March cover of the Vogue described her as the First Lady the world has been waiting for. She chose her own dress for Vogues cover.

On the other hand, although Michelle had declared that she was not interested in politics, she was seen closely following some important bills on the Hill. She celebrated the enacting of the pay-equity law with a reception in the White House for women's rights advocates. She lent support to the economic stimulus bill. She is also trying to fulfill her promise of making herself an advocate for working parents and prompting better access to childcare for all.

How difficult was it for Michelle to make over from a busy Vice President of a community Chicago medical centre earning a fabulous salary of $ 300,000 to the First Lady? After making fun that her job as the First Lady is not as paying as her hospital executive job, she is now comfortable in her new job. In her first weeks in the White House, Mrs. Obama played the gracious hostess welcoming visitors to the Executive Mansion and accompanying President Obama to a prayer breakfast. She is working towards closer rapport with the public, particularly with a modern generation of working mothers. During their first visit to Europe she made a mark not only in Britain but also in France. She made news when she put her arms around Queen Elizabeth shocking the British. She held her own in France with the French First Lady Carla Sarkozy, a former supermodel.

Some observers feel that Michelles approach may also carry political benefits and soften the image of the First Lady. She is also trying to appeal to married women, a coveted group of swing voters that went Republican in the last two presidential elections.

It is often said well begun is half done. Michelle has certainly started well and it is her future one has to watch. (IPA Service)