A first lady in fighting form

The first family is America's egalitarian version of royalty (if you are too young to remember the sprawling Kennedy clan), and thanks to our People magazine sensibilities, we know as much about their family life and fashion as the Brits do about Kate and William's.

For example, the latest news is that 13-year-old Malia Obama is beginning to spread her social wings, and it is giving President Barack Obama hives to see his oldest daughter leave the White House all dolled up for a dance or a party.

But when Michelle Obama drops to the ground and starts trading push-ups with television talk show hosts, we aren't quite sure what to think. Our first lady is not addressed as "your excellency," as a cast member did during her appearance on"iCarly," a children's television show. But we don't want to think of her as a Marine recruit, either.

We are a little confused.

Mrs. Obama promised that she would hold nothing back in promoting her "Let's Move!" campaign to fight childhood obesity, and so far she hasn't. Last week's sack race with late night host Jimmy Fallon is proof of that.

She also coaxed Jay Leno to eat a piece of apple for something like the first time since 1984; she ate healthy tacos with schoolkids and TV chef Rachael Ray; and she busted some dance moves on Nickelodeon.

Mrs. Obama has already famously convened a hula hoop contest and a flag football game on the White House lawn. Her vegetable garden — and she was down in the dirt with the schoolkids planting it — is the first thing foreign leaders ask her husband about, she says.

The talking heads are calling this a charm offensive in the aftermath of an unflattering portrait of her in a recent book about the Obama marriage. But they also are calling her the president's new secret weapon, a woman so approachable and likable that she takes heat off of her husband.

She got off on a bit of a bad foot with that unfortunate "finally proud of America" remark during her husband's campaign, and the crazies tried to suggest that serving state dinner dignitaries from her vegetable garden was just a tick away from hanging the White House laundry out to dry on the Truman balcony.

It seems all is forgiven. Her positives are sky high with voters, and she is the third-most-admired woman in America, behind Hillary Clinton and Oprah Winfrey.

But back to the push-ups …

Her form was perfect and she showed excellent core strength, said fitness trainers who were interviewed after the Ellen DeGeneres smack-down, but she should have gotten closer to the ground on each one.

(Final score: Michelle 25, Ellen 20. Mrs. Obama said she could have kept going. Ellen said she could have as well but didn't want to show up the nation's first lady.)

The sculpted arms that are the result of all those push-ups and her daily 90-minute, pre-dawn workouts have been on display everywhere, from"The Simpsons"to the cover of Vogue — her strength an object of both satire and beauty.

It is hard to imagine Eleanor Roosevelt doing push-ups to motivate a war-torn country. Or even Rosalynn Carter or Hillary Clinton, among the first to demonstrate behind-the-scenes power and influence, pumping out 20 without a bead of sweat as Mrs. Obama did. She is breaking all kinds of molds.

But there is something about a push-up.

Do you remember an aging Jack Palance doing his one-armed version at the Oscars? America caught its breath. More than any other physical test or calisthenic, it is a quintessential American demonstration of strength. Even chin-ups — which are probably harder to do — are not the boot camp badge of honor that push-ups are.

And America's first lady can do a rack of them. We are in uncharted territory here, my friends.

Susan Reimer's column appears Mondays. Her email is susan.reimer@baltsun.com.

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