First lady Hillary’s champion

UNITED STATES: She was once viewed as a campaign liability, a reluctant political spouse pilloried for saying her husband’s impending victory was the first time in her adult life she had felt ‘‘really proud of my country’’.

But now Michelle Obama, the first lady, is regarded as the top Democratic campaigner, eclipsing even the president in terms of broad appeal.

Her recent impassioned denunciation of Donald Trump was immediately made into a Hillary Clinton television advertIsement. When the Democratic campaign decided that Arizona - which has voted Republican in 15 of the past 16 elections - was now potentially within its grasp, it was Michelle who was sent to make the case.

Michelle Obama’s journey as a campaigner has been a long one. In 2007, Obama aides winced when she took a shot at Hillary Clinton by referring to the infidelities of her husband Bill. Now, Michelle is considered the most on-message and self-disciplined of Clinton’s ‘‘surrogates’’. In contrast, Bill Clinton is seen as an increasingly doddery and gaffe-prone figure who rambles off script and is largely kept under wraps.

On Saturday, Trump hit back, telling supporters: ‘‘I see how much [she] likes Hillary. But wasn’t she the one that originally started the statement, ‘If you can’t take care of your home,’ right? ‘You can’t take care of the White House or the country?’ Where’s that? I don’t hear that. I don’t hear that.’’

Michelle is seen as the greatest persuader for women, black voters and Millennials. While Trump has only himself and running mate Mike Pence who can draw big crowds, Hillary Clinton has the first couple, her running mate Tim Kaine, vice-president Joe Biden and the Left-wing favourites senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. - Sunday Times