Pat Dollard

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Politico:

Michelle Obama endured a spate of bad press when commentators, incensed by her lavish Spanish vacation, compared her to a modern-day Marie Antoinette. But the first lady isn’t about to hide from the spotlight.

In fact, her plans to campaign for Democrats in the upcoming mid-term elections are still on schedule, White House aides say. Obama would be making appearances on the campaign trail for Democratic candidates, they acknowledge, stopping shy of announcing exactly where and when the first lady would hit the trail.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said Tuesday that the first lady’s campaign schedule is “not set,” though it will be made in conjunction with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. The First Lady’s fall plans are “not quite put together just yet,” Burton said.

A White House aide told POLITICO that the “long-term” planning is taking place this month while the first family takes vacations to Florida’s Gulf Coast and Martha’s Vineyard. But while observers say Michelle Obama will be an asset on the campaign trail, she should be wary of the negative reaction to her Spanish vacation last week and the possibility that conservatives would make her a polarizing figure.

“The first lady has a responsibility to the party and needs to help the president’s agenda as a political partner,” said Anita McBride, who served as chief of staff to former first lady Laura Bush. “It’s not always the easiest thing to do but it’s part of the process, and you really don’t want to be faulted for what you didn’t do.”

“In my opinion, I don’t see any reason why the first lady would pull back,” McBride said. “As far as the political effort goes, she is the first lady of the United States and she is going to be very popular particularly with the party faithful. Her presence at any of these events guarantees a good turnout.”

Still, McBride acknowledged that Obama’s luxury trip to Spain and the images it produced “struck a chord across party lines.” Photos of the first lady strolling along cobblestone streets in a jet-set vacation paradise as the nation struggles through a recession, she said, was “perceived as something most people can’t do right now.”

But “every first lady makes a mistake,” McBride said. “There’s always at least one event or occurrence that isn’t particularly helpful.”

Though Obama said she paid for the trip herself, it may be a turning point for how decisions might be made on private travel from this point on. “This is one thing [the White House] will look back on and say ‘Was it worth it?’

Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto, a professor of political science and African American studies at Northwestern University, said among a portion of African Americans and white liberals – “hard-core Michelle lovers” – she can do no wrong. “Most folks who like Michelle fall into love with her no matter what she does,” she said, adding that only a “small group” of voters might be swayed by her Spanish holiday.

“To soccer moms, your Wal-Mart moms that probably don’t have a passport, this is something that nudges them over,” she said. “They’ll say, ‘Well maybe I should try the Republicans again.’”

One Democrat, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, didn’t mind being seen with the first lady: on Tuesday, he greeted Obama her daughter Sasha and a few other relatives at the State House in Annapolis. O’Malley gave Sasha a Salisbury pewter box with an engraved state seal, Shaun Adamec, the governor’s spokesman, told POLITICO.

“We were happy to host them,” Adamec said.