NBC News quotes Dr. Katherine Jellison, Professor and Chair of History, in a story on “Better Half: First Lady Campaigns Where the President Has Not.”
Whether or not the president isn’t wanted by candidates in his own party, Michelle Obama has picked up the campaigning baton, attending 14 campaign events in nine different states in October alone, according to her schedule.
“A number of recent first ladies have remained popular with the American people even as their husbands’ approval ratings have gone into decline,” said Katherine Jellison, an expert on women in politics at Ohio University. “Lady Bird Johnson, Betty Ford, Laura Bush, and now Michelle Obama are all obvious examples of very able campaigners who could draw positive crowds in places where their husbands were no longer welcome,” Jellison added.
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