http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/04/us/politics/04michelle.html?partner=rss&emc=rssAfter 18 months of careful image-making and bipartisanship, Michelle Obama is shifting course as first lady, stepping up her policy agenda and dipping into election-year politics to campaign and raise money for Democrats.
Despite stinging criticism of her summer vacation to Spain with daughter Sasha — aides warned her not to go, and the backlash was fiercer than they had imagined — Mrs. Obama is the most popular member of her husband’s administration. Having worked to build good will through nonideological causes like fighting obesity and assisting military families, aides say, she is ready to spend some of her political capital to advance President Obama’s agenda — and her own.
Her fresh burst of activity will begin the day after Labor Day, when daughters Malia and Sasha return to school. She will inaugurate a White House dance series on Tuesday, travel to New Orleans on Wednesday to start the second phase of Let’s Move!, her healthy eating campaign, and join her predecessor, Laura Bush, in Shanksville, Pa., on Sept. 11 to observe the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
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Now, aides say, Mrs. Obama wants to set specific targets for measuring progress. In New Orleans, she will outline benchmarks for healthy school lunches, well-child visits and the like. She is also revamping her military-families initiative in the mold of Let’s Move!, with the aim of improving education, housing and employment, aides say.
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