Enlarge By Mark Wilson, Getty Images Michelle Obama, wife of President-elect Barack Obama, "is going to set a record in the amount of attention she will receive," Democratic strategist and CNN analyst Donna Brazile says. THE MICHELLE OBAMA FILE THE MICHELLE OBAMA FILE Age: 44, born Jan. 17, 1964 Hometown: Chicago Education: Princeton University, cum laude B.A. in sociology, 1985; Harvard Law School, J.D., 1988. Career: Associate at Sidley Austin law firm in Chicago; assistant to the mayor of Chicago; assistant commissioner of planning and development for Chicago; executive director of Chicago office of a non-profit organization; associate dean at University of Chicago; executive at University of Chicago Hospitals; member of various boards. Family: Daughters Malia, 10, and Natasha (Sasha), 7. Mother Marian Robinson; brother Craig Robinson, the men's basketball coach at Oregon State University; extended family members in Chicago. Quote: "As we've all said in the black community, we don't see all of who we are in the media," she said on Good Morning America. "We see snippets of our community and distortions of our community. So the world has this perspective that somehow Barack and Michelle Obama are different, that we're unique. And we're not. You just haven't seen us before." Source: USA TODAY research; Michelle: A Biography, by Liza Mundy Enlarge By Wilfredo Lee, AP The Obamas stand together at a Miami rally in October during the presidential campaign. You could call it "Obamalot." That makes some sense. The incoming presidential couple, Barack and Michelle Obama, bear superficial similarities to John and Jacqueline Kennedy of the 1960s "Camelot" White House — charisma, vigor, her fondness for sheath dresses, for instance. CELEB STYLE: Incorporate Obama's fashion sense into your wardrobe But maybe the most obvious similarity is that many Americans are as excited and curious about her as they are about him. "People will be riveted," predicts Donna Brazile, Democratic strategist and CNN analyst. "She is going to set a record in the amount of attention she will receive." President Kennedy once jokingly introduced himself, during a press-frenzied visit to France, as "the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris." Someday, the president-elect may have occasion to say the same. In fact, on the day this month that Barack Obama was announcing important Cabinet picks, a British tabloid reported (with no apparent evidence) that he planned to buy his wife an exotic $30,000 ring as a thank-you gift. Exasperated, his transition team had to interrupt actual news to deny fake news. It was a sign of the hyper-increased focus on the role of first lady in general, and on Michelle in particular, as Americans seek to learn more about her and sort out what kind of first lady she might be and how she might influence public perceptions of her husband's administration. Expectations are dizzyingly high. Most Democrats, and even some Republicans, think she will do an excellent or good job as first lady, according to a Marist poll released Wednesday. But nearly every first lady has made mistakes — recall the brouhaha over Nancy Reagan's borrowed designer duds, or the withering criticism of Hillary Rodham Clinton's handling of a health care task force. Will any missteps by Michelle Obama be heightened by the increased attention she will get? "The first lady has always been a helpmate and sounding board for the president, his most trusted adviser, and that's always a given," says Ann Stock, a White House social secretary for President Clinton. "But it's a much more public role now" compared with previous generations because of dramatic changes in communication and media. "Now you see the role model that you didn't see before." So what kind of role model will Michelle be? Officially, her staff says only that she will "define the role of first lady for herself." Stock and others who know her say it's too early to tell whether she'll be more or less like any of her recent predecessors — activist or traditionalist, lightning rod or soother — or something completely different. She is, after all, unprecedented: the first African-American first lady, the first one who is a descendant of slaves, the second-youngest since the 19th century, one of the best educated (Princeton and Harvard), and the most career-oriented up to now (as a lawyer, municipal official and hospital executive). She and her husband remain not entirely familiar to most Americans, and some people may still be influenced by the rhetoric of campaign opponents who depicted her as an unpatriotic and angry black woman nursing racial grievances despite her successful life story. Since the Nov. 4 election, the couple have undermined that caricature through widely viewed television interviews in which they demonstrated warmth, affection, humor — and normality. "What you see is what you get," says Marilyn Katz, a Chicago public-relations executive and friend of the Obamas. "The more you know them, the more you love them, which is really not true about most politicians." In the process, many non-black Americans also will learn more that African-American families are much like their own, says retired federal judge and Chicago law professor Abner Mikva, an old friend of the Obamas. "(Some Americans) have never really seen real-life African-American families except for the Hollywood Bill Cosby version," Mikva says. The Obamas are "going to be very much in the goldfish bowl, but it's going to be interesting and exciting and educating for all of us." Details, details Meanwhile, Michelle, who turns 45 three days before the Jan. 20 inauguration, is preparing to move into the big white mansion built by slaves like her great-great-grandfather in South Carolina. She is the topic of inquiring minds: What will she wear? What will she serve? Will she redecorate? Where will the family worship? Will she entertain more at the White House? Pose for the cover of Vogue? What will be her first-lady project? Will she be managing some big-deal policy issue? As Washington pundits feverishly speculated about whether he would hire Hillary Clinton (he did, as secretary of State), Washington hostesses have wondered whether she would hire a new chef. (No word on that yet, but a note to the kitchen: He likes chili and margaritas but hates beets, and the whole family loves Mexican.) Advice and briefings are pouring in over the transition transom, from sources ranging from outgoing first lady Laura Bush to Barbara Walters to total strangers. Here's what you should do about the new puppy, Michelle. Here's what you should wear to the inauguration. Here's where the best closets are in the White House. Here's the best school for your daughters, here's the most prestigious church for Sunday, and here's how you can make new friends and thrill the social scene in the nation's capital. (Hint: Show up at parties every once in a while.) All of this has seemed to have left the Obamas a little stunned, a little amused. Laughing, they have told interviewers such as Walters that they have received more advice and comments about the puppy than about the Cabinet. (For the record, the Obamas say they won't be selecting the new White House dog until the spring at the earliest, and it won't be a "yappy," "girly" or sneeze-inducing dog. A decision on where they'll worship is pending. And they're sending the kids to Sidwell Friends, a highly regarded Quaker school in Washington that Chelsea Clinton, among other children of the rich and powerful, attended.) Michelle has said she intends to be mostly "mom-in-chief" initially, making sure Malia, 10, and Natasha (Sasha), 7, are settled and happy in their new home and new school. "Politically, this is part of an ongoing effort to soften her image and present a more domesticated Michelle Obama," says Liza Mundy, author of Michelle: A Biography, the first major book about the future first lady. "So there is some spin there, even if she is a very committed parent. And her daughters are at an age when they still need a lot from her." Beyond that, Michelle talked during the campaign about helping stressed military families, about volunteerism, and the difficulties of balancing work and family. But not many specifics yet. The newly appointed White House social secretary, Desirée Rogers, 49, a Chicago corporate executive and close friend of the Obamas (who will be the first-ever African-American social secretary), says one initial idea Michelle has mentioned is inviting military families to the White House for the inauguration. "We want to create a White House that is really the people's house, and with that, you gotta have the people there," Rogers says. "Especially family events. We've not had two young children in the White House for some time, so that allows us to do things that can be fun and lighthearted. We want to make certain everyone feels included. " Mundy says that comments from Rogers and the Obamas themselves have led to expectations that the Obamas will have a much closer relationship with Washington than their predecessors. (George W. Bush, for example, had almost none.) Barack Obama said recently on Meet the Press that he and Michelle have discussed opening up the White House to musicians, artists, scientists and poets, as the Kennedys did. "I think that's a pretty good indication that socializing and events in general are going to be a lot more ramped up in this administration, thanks in part to Michelle and her outgoing personality," Mundy says. Michelle is unlikely to head a major public-policy initiative in the style of Clinton, at least initially, says first-lady historian Myra Gutin, professor of communications at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J. But a more vibrant social life is a strong possibility, and that is no small thing in assessing the success of any administration, Gutin says. "There is a serious side to entertaining. It can be used to accomplish political ends," she says. "(Former first lady) Lady Bird Johnson used invitations to the White House very strategically, and Michelle Obama, who is very savvy, might do the same thing. And it might also be she likes a good party." In contrast to Barack Obama's cool, professorial image, friends say Michelle is the kind of "girlfriendy" gal with whom you'd like to share a glass of wine and a leisurely lunch. "She often added spice to a candidate who seemed so disciplined," Brazile says. "While he was professorial, she would shake it up a bit. She provided the emotion, the seasoning and the spices in that campaign." Her pals characterize Michelle as smart, passionate and irrepressible. She's highly organized, comfortable with authority and keenly aware that although her own family is prosperous, many of the families she grew up with in South Side Chicago are not. She and her husband share a desire to do something about that, Mundy says in her biography. "She's a down-to-earth woman with consummate self-confidence and excellent judgment, complete integrity, and capable of keeping her kids grounded while being a helpmate and adviser to her husband," says Barbara Engel, who knows the Obamas from the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, where they live. "I think Michelle is going to make history as first lady. ... She will keep it real." 'Secure in her own skin' It's not always easy to label first ladies. Although Clinton was an activist and groundbreaking first lady, she also did all the traditional things first ladies do. And Laura Bush, while keeping a relatively low profile for most of her husband's tenure, became the administration's leading critic of Myanmar's military junta during the past year. According to the Marist Poll, Americans are split on whether Michelle will improve the role of first lady, with 41% of those polled saying she will and 41% saying she will not alter the position in any way. Barry Landau, presidential historian and author of The President's Table: 200 Years of Dining & Diplomacy, says Michelle could turn out to be more traditional than many expect because she won't have to fight the same battles for respect as a power broker as, say, Clinton did. "She impresses me as a woman who is very secure in her own skin," he says. "She is going to establish her own style, but she's not going to create any waves. Americans are going to be pleasantly surprised. The campaign was about change, but I don't think we're going to see much change in the running of the White House." Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. 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