First Lady Michelle Obama, a dogged campaigner during her husband’s run for the White House, said yesterday that she is not yet in re-election mode, but will be more than ready when the time comes to begin stumping for votes.
“I’m not thinking about it right now because it’s not on my radar screen, but when it’s time to get out on the road and talk to the American people it’s something that I enjoy doing,” she told NBC television’s Today Show.
The White House last month confirmed speculations that Obama will likely seek a second term, as several senior advisers recently left the West Wing to set up his re-election effort.
The First Lady last week divulged that President Barack Obama’s Democratic Party will hold its 2012 presidential nominating convention in the key swing state of North Carolina.
She said that her husband has “absolutely” earned voters’ support for a second term, despite the perceived Achilles heel of a weak economy.
“If we look at where we were two years ago when Mr Barack took office, we’re definitely moving in the right direction,” she told NBC.
“If you look at the accomplishments this year, he has kept every single promise that he has made,” she added.
“It doesn’t always feel good when you’re down and out, but I think we’re on the right path.”
In the wide-ranging interview, Michelle Obama also touched on what she said was her husband’s successful effort to kick his decades-long cigarette addiction.
The push to quit smoking, the First Lady said, came “from all of the women in my husband’s life”.
“We want him to be healthy. He’s worked hard at it and I’m very proud he’s been able to kick the habit,” Mrs Obama told the television network.
“Once he made the commitment to quit, I left him alone, because it’s a very personal thing. I don’t think that there’s one right way to do it,” she added.
“I just know that once a person makes the decision they have to find the right path.”
She added that she felt that she and President Obama are succeeding in giving daughters Malia and Sasha a normal childhood, despite life in the White House fishbowl.
“I think about it all the time,” she said. “I think we’ve done a good job. If you talk to our kids, they’re really very normal.”
“Friends who come to visit, they look and say ‘these are the little girls we’ve known’,” she said.
She added that the girls are steered away from some of the online temptations that draw many kids their age.