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Why We Love Michelle: Understanding Public Support for First Lady Michelle Obama

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 August 2019

Laurel Elder  and
Brian Frederick
Laurel Elder
Affiliation:
Hartwick College
Brian Frederick
Affiliation:
Bridgewater State University
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Abstract

After eight years as the first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama left the White House beloved in the eyes of many Americans. Being well liked by Americans is not in and of itself an unusual phenomenon for first ladies. What is remarkable about the love so many Americans expressed toward First Lady Michelle Obama is that she was able to maintain high favorable evaluations through a period of political, social, and electoral acrimony that made high approval ratings for national political figures increasingly unlikely. By drawing on a wealth of aggregate data drawn from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research archives and individual-level public opinion data drawn from the 2012 American National Election Studies survey as well as original survey data, this article identifies several important forces behind Michelle Obama's popularity.

Keywords

First ladiespresidential candidate spousesrace and politicspublic opiniongender and politicssymbolic representation
Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 15 , Special Issue 3: Special Symposium on Michelle Obama , September 2019 , pp. 403 - 430
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2019 

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