'I measure people more so on what they do rather than the things they say,' Michelle Obama said. FLOTUS: Reid owes me no apology

First lady Michelle Obama told reporters Wednesday that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid doesn’t owe her an apology over his racial comments about her husband’s electoral chances because she knows Reid so well.

“Harry Reid has no need to apologize to me because I know Harry Reid. I measure people more so on what they do rather than the things they say,” said Obama, in a roundtable with several media outlets, including POLITICO.


On Reid, Michelle Obama seemed interested in closing the book, much as the president had when he accepted Reid’s apologies for the “unfortunate” comments. Reid had said that Obama's presidential candidacy was viable because he is "light skinned" and has no "Negro dialect, unless he wants to."

In the wide-ranging interview, Michelle Obama discussed her upcoming campaign to curb childhood obesity and life in the White House, saying she’s proud that "my kids are sane."

"I'm happy that when I look at my daughters, I recognize them as the kids that they were before we got here," Obama said of her daughters Sasha and Malia.

She also discussed the Nov. 24 state dinner where three alleged party-crashers got in, including two who met President Barack Obama. Michelle Obama downplayed the incident, which raised serious concerns about White House security and Secret Service practices, calling it a “footnote” to a successful night.

“The state dinner was an outstanding success, you know, it’s just the follow-up after it. I look at the reporting on the state dinner, and go, ‘Is that all that happened really? It was so wonderful and so well orchestrated. For me the other stuff that everyone is talking about is a footnote.”

The party-crashing incident also cast a harsh light on social secretary Desiree Rogers, whose office failed to post someone at the entrance gate. But asked about Rogers in the interview, Obama seemed to defend her friend from Chicago, without mentioning her by name.

“Our interaction around security has been outstanding. The White House and Secret Service are working to make sure that processes are in place so it never happens again.”

And, she added in an apparent reference to Rogers, “When I say White House, I mean everyone in the White House.”

Procedures have changed since the security breach that apparently allowed three uninvited guests into the White House, and the Secret Service is still investigating the incident.

Looking ahead to 2010, Obama said she will use her platform to fight childhood obesity, saying she hopes combating the problem will be an important part of her legacy. Her foray into policy marks the first time Obama has led an administrative-wide program, though she said her first year has been about "laying a foundation for a whole set of initiatives."

The initiative will include speeches and travel and Obama said she would be interested in taking her case to Congress if that would be helpful.

"People are receptive because we are talking about kids," she said.

Next week she will address the Conference of Mayors on the topic and in February officially kick off her work around childhood obesity issues, which is a natural outgrowth of the “kitchen garden” on the White House grounds. Congress will take up school-lunch legislation that could increase funding and food safety and eliminate junk food and trans-fats from menus.

"The garden and this first year was really a good way to begin that conversation in a non-threatening way to feel the pulse of the nation, about how do we talk about this in a way that doesn't make already over-stressed parents feel even more guilty about a very hard thing to do, which is making sure your kids eat right every day," Obama said.

Some first lady observers have said that Obama's approach to issues have been scatter-shot rather than focused and as a result, possibly blunting her impact. In the last year she has given a handful of speeches on healthcare, joined with Jill Biden in highlighting the needs of military families, advocated for healthy living, kicked off a mentoring program, and transformed the White House into a showcase for culture, acting as a kind of unofficial arts czar.

On Thursday, she will continue her thank-you tour of agencies, delivering remarks to Labor Department employees and reading to children.

Her signature event has been planting the garden on the White House lawn with a group of elementary school children. Now she hopes her fight against childhood obesity will help her leave her mark.

"I want to leave something behind that you can say because of this time that this person spent here this has changed and we hope that's going to be in the area of childhood obesity," she said.