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4/5/09

LA Times: Michelle Obama's conquest of Europe - by Christi Parsons

Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni Sarkozy in Paris


For the complete report from the Los Angeles Times click on this link

Michelle Obama's conquest of Europe - by Christi Parsons

Reporting from Strasbourg, France -- So far on her trip to Europe, Michelle Obama has hugged the queen of England, double cheek-kissed the glamorous first lady of France and electrified the celebrity-obsessed tabloids. When she talked to students at a school for underprivileged girls in London, though, her message was about her working-class childhood and her success gained through strong values and hard work in school.In other words, she may be wearing Jimmy Choo kitten heels these days, but the first lady pulled herself up by an old-fashioned pair of American bootstraps.

In President Obama's first official visit overseas, he is preaching a new foreign policy, calling on Europeans to set aside negative feelings toward the U.S. in favor of an era of friendship and cooperation. And Michelle Obama is unveiling her own policy of foreign engagement, one that blends a high-wattage celebrity with a message about self-reliance and personal possibility -- a story of special resonance on a continent where no minorities have risen to such prominence.

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