米歇尔受欢迎程度远超奥巴马

Michelle Obama has left her husband way behind in America’s popularity stakes.

米歇尔•奥巴马在美国的受欢迎程度已经远远超过她的丈夫贝拉克•奥巴马。

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On the campaign trail: Michelle Obama's popularity among voters and candidates has given the Democrats a boost ahead of next month's mid-term elections.

The First Lady returned to the campaign trail this week for the first time since 2008 after her approval rating rocketed to 65% - twenty points higher than the president.

With only a quarter of those questioned in the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll expressing their disapproval³, Mrs Obama is seen as a saviour⁴ for beleaguered⁵（围困的，包围的） Democrats in the run-up to next month’s mid-term elections.

She is so popular that some congressional candidates have expressed more excitement at the prospect⁶ of campaigning with her than with her husband.

When President Obama visited Wisconsin to talk up Democrat¹ Senator Russ Feingold last month, the election hopeful’s support plunged⁷ 5% overnight.

After the First Lady’s trip to the same state on Wednesday on the first stop of her seven-state tour, Senator Feingold’s popularity spiked⁸ to its highest level of his campaign and she helped him raise more than £150,000 ($240,000).

Several Democrat candidates have aired TV adverts⁹ highlighting votes in Congress where they have opposed the White House. Others have quietly told the president’s office that they would prefer it if he stayed away.

But everybody is clamouring for（呼吁） the First Lady.

She was in Illinois and Colorado yesterday and will be making speeches in a string of states, including California, Washington and Connecticut, over the next fortnight.

With Democrats suffering from an ‘enthusiasm’ gap, Mrs Obama tried to inject some pizzazz（潇洒，精力） into the proceedings¹⁰ at a Milwaukee fund-raiser, wearing a pink dress and a sparkly necklace.

Advisers¹¹ are pushing her to remind her audiences of the excitement that built up around her husband’s inauguration¹²（就职典礼） , when the country was in a far more hopeful mood.

She is also acting¹³ as first cheerleader for her husband, who is coming under fire over America’s prolonged（延长的，拖延的） economic slump¹⁴.

The survey results indicated that six out of ten men and more than seven out of ten women approve of Mrs Obama’s performance as First Lady.