You hear him before you see him. After a hearty hello to the men and women working on the ground floor of the White House, President Barack Obama bounds into the Map Room with a warm smile and an open hand. Soon the president’s eyes fall on a shimmering but empty silver tea set that has been placed on the coffee table by photographer Ben Baker. “Tea? What about chips and salsa?” With the tea service sent to the sidelines, the president settles down next to his wife, Michelle, whose gift for easy elegance is reinforced by her Tracey Reese top and J. Crew skirt. On this day before Gov. Mitt Romney would announce Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, the first couple ­alternately kid and cuddle for pictures. But befitting a room where decisions about World War II were once made, they quickly strike a more serious pose ­during an interview conducted by PARADE editor in chief Maggie Murphy and contributor Lynn Sherr. As they address questions from our readers about the economy, the political stalemate in D.C., and their family life, the couple hold hands, nod in support of each other’s answers, and make a case for their first four years in office and what they hope to accomplish next.

PARADE: Mr. President, let’s begin with a ­question from PARADE reader Joanne D. of Riverside, N.J. She writes: “My husband and I are both laid off without insurance. We support you 100 percent. What can you say to keep us going? I’m getting a little desperate.”

President Obama: We’ve gone through the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and even though the steps we took averted another depression, it’s important for us to stay focused on how we grow the economy over the long term. We have a great opportunity to rebuild our roads, our schools, and that could boost the economy generally. What I want to do is make sure we don’t raise taxes on people making $250,000 a year or less [but] reduce our deficit by asking people like us, Michelle and me—who can afford it—to [do] a little bit more. Health care is one of my proudest achievements, and hopefully, for families who are looking for more work, once we get health care fully implemented, they won’t have to fear that they’re going to lose their home if they get sick.

Some Democrats and crossover Republicans say they’re disappointed in your first term and won’t vote for you again. How do you get them back?

PO: Every step we take is designed to strengthen the middle class. For folks who’ve been laid off, one of our big focuses is giving them the opportunity to retrain for jobs that exist right now, which is why we’ve really pushed to make financing for college more accessible for young people but also mid-career folks. All these pieces are helping to strengthen the economy.

You said recently that the mistake of your first few years was thinking the job was just about getting the policy right—that, in fact, you have to tell a story. At the end of the Democratic convention, if you can do it in one sentence, what’s the story people should understand?

PO: As hard as the last decade’s been for a lot of middle-class families, we’ve got all the tools we need to succeed. We’ve got the best workers in the world, the best entrepreneurs in the world, the best colleges and universities in the world, we’ve got incredible diversity, and we’re a young nation. What’s preventing us from taking advantage of it is our politics. What we need right now is an end to the uncompromising views that have so dominated Washington.



So how are you going to talk to Republicans differently if you are reelected?

PO: Republican voters, if you ask them about my particular policy positions, often agree with me. So there’s a difference between Republicans in Washington and Republican and Republican-leaning voters around the country. I think that after this election, we’ll be in a position to once again reach out to Republicans and say that the American people have rendered a judgment, and the positions we’re taking are well within what used to be considered bipartisan centrist approaches.



Are you saying there’ll be a difference in how you approach Republicans, or their attitude will be different if you get reelected?

PO: My approach has been pretty consistent from the start; I’ve often proposed ways to solve our problems that used to be embraced by Republicans. There’s no better example than the health care bill, which was designed originally by the now Republican standard-bearer and is working pretty well in Massachusetts. The Recovery Act that helped us avoid a depression, a third of it was tax cuts. My hope is that the Republican Party, post election, steps back and says, “Now that we’re not so worried about beating the president, maybe we should spend a little time focusing on solving the problems.

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“He’s working so hard and doing it at great personal sacrifice, but he’s still managing to be the father and husband he was before,” says Michelle Obama about the president.



Mrs. Obama, I want to turn to you and your accomplishments as first lady—supporting military families and your health initiatives aimed at America’s children. Many PARADE readers asked, what do you hope to accomplish in your second term?

Michelle Obama: With Let’s Move!, our goal is to end the problem of childhood obesity in a generation. And while we’ve seen some very profound cultural shifts, we still have communities that don’t have access to affordable and healthy foods; we still need to find a way to impact the nature of food in grocery stores, in terms of sugar, fat, and salt; we need to keep educating families about how to structure a life that is healthy in a society where TV is rampant and communities don’t have enough resources in terms of sports and activities. When it comes to military families, we’ve only begun to scratch the surface. Many of these young people will have only known a life in the armed forces, so they’re going to need communities to be ready to embrace them and the challenges they’re going to enter society with, whether it’s post-traumatic stress disorder, or depression, or how to transition to another career.

Are there any new issues you’re going to take up?

MO: Women’s health issues. How do we strengthen families and make them healthier—an issue not just in America but around the world.



This year, there is once again a conversation about the “superwoman.” Can women have it all? Is that even the right question?

MO: I think that question limits us as women. I work with a lot of young women—we have interns coming in and out, and this is always one of the first questions they ask—and the thing I try to remind them is that we have fought so hard for choice and options with our lives, and we’re just getting to that point where we’re willing to embrace all the different facets of woman­hood. I know that when I came out of college, what I wanted and what I thought I wanted were very different things. Then I get married and have a career and, lo and behold, now I’ve got kids. And how you feel about motherhood when your children are small and when they’re teenagers, that’s going to change. I want to keep young women from thinking that there is one right answer. That answer is going to change every year, every five years.

The two young women in your life went to camp this summer. How did you find the empty nest?

MO: What he said this morning is that life is less sparkly and twinkly with them not around.

PO: It’s true. Our girls are quite expressive, and there’s nothing I enjoy more than just sitting around the dinner table with them and listening to all their ideas. I’ve got this incredible luxury, ’cause I live above the store. So every night at 6:30, I can come up and have dinner with them and get their perspective on what’s happening at school and in their social lives but also on—

MO: On the world.

How often do you go back to work afterwards?

PO: Well, I always work afterwards. The question is, do I use my upstairs office or do I have to come back down to work?

Let’s get back to the campaign for just a minute. We spoke with Governor Romney and he talked about the way in which you, Mr. President, are making our country “far more like Europe, with a larger, more dominant, more intrusive government. …” How do you react to being characterized as somebody with foreign ideas?

PO: When you look at the policies I’ve promoted, they used to be considered bipartisan, mainstream ideas. What’s changed is not me. What’s changed is where the Republican Party’s gone. In fact, a lot of the things I’ve done are things that Mr. Romney, when he was governor of Massachusetts, seemed to promote. … What’s absolutely true is that we’ve had to take some emergency steps, like saving the auto industry, that weren’t free, that weren’t popular, but were the right thing to do.

If you were female, we would ask, “How has being female affected your ability to govern?” So, how has being black affected your ability to govern?

PO: I’m sure it makes me more determined in assuring that everybody’s getting a fair shot—in the same way that being a father of two daughters makes me want to make sure that every woman is getting equal pay for equal work, ’cause I don’t want my daughters treated differently than somebody else’s sons. By virtue of being African-American, I’m attuned to how throughout this country’s ­history there have been times when folks have been locked out of opportunity, and because of the hard work of people of all races, slowly those doors opened to more and more people. Equal opportunity doesn’t just happen on its own; it happens because we’re vigilant about it. But part of this is not just because we’re African-American—it’s also because Michelle and I were born into pretty modest means. And so I think about my single mom and what it was like to go to school and work at the same time. And I think about Michelle’s dad, who had a disability and was working every day and didn’t have a lot of money to spare. But somehow our parents or grand­parents were able to give us these opportunities partly because they lived in a society that said that was important. And as president, I want to ­affirm that that’s important and reject the idea that if we just reward those at the top, that somehow that’s going to work for everybody—’cause that hasn’t been how America got built.

One last reader question. Robyne H. of Maryland writes, “From all appearances you have a wonderful marriage. Can you share one ­occasion when you were absolutely furious, Mrs. Obama, with your husband? And Mr. President, how did you make it up to her?”

PO: The problem is that she’s got so many examples, that may take …

Oh, pick one!

MO: This last three and a half years, it’s been hard to be really furious at him, because he’s working so hard and doing it at great personal sacrifice, but he’s still managing to be the father and husband he was before. So I have a harder time taking [issue with] his little foibles, whether it’s leaving his shoes out or not.



Are they still there?

MO: You know, we have people [here] who pick them up. [Otherwise] they’d still be there.

PO: My pants would still be hanging on the top of the door.

MO: But little things, like, I’m waiting for him today for 30 minutes, ’cause I’m always waiting for him. He comes down and he’s, “All right, let’s go!” And it’s like, “Oh, so now you’re in a rush?”

PO: She’s more punctual than I am. I’m going to help her out—

MO: What, you remember something I was really furious about?

PO: Well, I think the hardest time in our marriage was when our kids were really young. And that’s probably not unusual when you’ve got a working—

MO: —two working—

PO: —two working parents. Because no matter how enlightened men like to think they are when it comes to child rearing and balancing work, I think it falls a little harder on women.

MO: And the emotions are different. My emotions about my role as a mother are a lot more — not to say that he doesn’t want to be the best father, but he’s much more laid back about it and I’m much harder on myself, like many mothers.

PO: My general view was, if the girls went out and their hair didn’t look great, I was [chuckles], “Well, we’re busy right now.”

MO: Or they didn’t do anything all summer …

PO: Send them outside, let them run around.

MO: Or did they get tutoring? And he’s like, “They’re smart enough. They’re fine.” That’s him. That’s absolutely him.

PO: As the girls get older and more independent, that relieved some of your stress.

MO: And then you see, actually, they turned out okay.

PO: They turned out okay. They’re a little more resilient.

MO: And they feel loved, and they love us.



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