Politics / Michelle Obama Michelle Grounds Barack's Vision Mrs. Obama's real-life rags-to-riches story gives Barack gravitas By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff Posted Jan 27, 2008 6:59 PM CST Copied Michelle Obama, left, wife of Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., high fives Lorena Vance during a town hall meeting in Elko, Nev. Friday, Jan. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) (Associated Press) Michelle Obama hit the campaign trail full-time last week, and she is proving a formidable force in her own right, Time reports. As Democratic campaigns grow more vicious, presidential hopeful Barack needs someone to lean on—and Michelle’s proud role as a self-proclaimed "working-class girl" who could be "the next first lady" helps to ground her husband’s uplifting message in reality. story continues below Michelle Obama's speeches, unlike her husband’s, focus on her rags-to-riches upbringing and don’t shy away from race. They are helping to nudge audiences, especially undecided black women, toward the Illinois senator. “She was really a real person, I was inspired, just in awe,” said one South Carolina student. Observed a child of immigrants: “It was like she was telling our story.” (More Michelle Obama stories.) Report an error