Above: President-elect Barack Obama and Michele Obama
leave Spiaggia restaurant in Chicago after dinner on Saturday
night. (Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune.)

For now, Michelle Obama is focusing on easing the transition
for Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7

The Obama family is making plans to move to Washington
(Doug Mills/The New York Times)

BY AP

updated 5:22 p.m. ET, Sun., Nov. 9, 2008

WASHINGTON – She’s been compared to Jacqueline Kennedy, is every bit as high-powered as Hillary Rodham Clinton was and has praised Laura Bush’s calm and rational approach to issues.

So what kind of first lady will Michelle Obama be?

It may be too soon to know — she’s probably still trying to figure it all out herself. This much is certain: She will be the kind of first lady this country hasn’t seen in decades: the mother of young children.

But Barack Obama has portrayed his wife as one of his top advisers, and it’s a safe bet she will continue in that role at the White House, as first ladies before her have done. He has described her as the family’s “rock” and told Newsweek magazine she had “veto power” over his decision to run for president. Read more at MSNBC.COM