米歇爾人氣飆升 支持率遠超奧巴馬
Michelle Obama has left her husband way behind in America’s popularity stakes.
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 disapproval, Mrs Obama is seen as a saviour for beleaguered 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 prospect of campaigning with her than with her husband.
When President Obama visited Wisconsin to talk up Democrat Senator Russ Feingold last month, the election hopeful’s support plunged 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 spiked to its highest level of his campaign and she helped him raise more than £150,000 ($240,000).
Several Democrat candidates have aired TV adverts 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 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 into the proceedings at a Milwaukee fund-raiser, wearing a pink dress and a sparkly necklace.
Advisers are pushing her to remind her audiences of the excitement that built up around her husband’s inauguration, when the country was in a far more hopeful mood.
She is also acting as first cheerleader for her husband, who is coming under fire over America’s prolonged economic slump.
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.
米歇爾•奧巴馬在美國的受歡迎程度已經遠遠超過她的丈夫貝拉克•奧巴馬。
繼2008年後，第一夫人本週重返選舉活動，支持率飆升至65%，比身爲總統的丈夫還高20個百分點。
美國有線新聞網與民意研究公司合作開展的民調顯示，僅有1/4的受訪者表示不支持米歇爾。米歇爾目前已被看成危機重重的民主黨下月中期選舉前期準備的救星。
米歇爾的支持率頗高，因此一些國會候選人對與她一同參選的前景更看好，而不是與她的丈夫。
奧巴馬總統上月前往威斯康星州爲民主黨參議員拉斯•範戈爾德競選助威時，拉斯的支持率一夜之間暴跌了5%。
而在第一夫人於本週三也來到七州之行的首站威斯康星州助威後，參議員範戈爾德的支持率立即升至參選以來的最高水平。她還幫範戈爾德募到超過15萬英鎊（合24萬美元）經費。
數位民主黨候選人已播發電視廣告，亮明瞭自己反對白宮的態度。另有一些人已暗中向總統辦公室透露更希望總統離任。
但大家一致擁戴第一夫人。
米歇爾昨天在伊利諾斯州和科羅納多州爲選舉助威。今後兩週內，她還將在加利福尼亞、華盛頓和康涅狄格等州發表演講。
眼下民主黨對選舉熱情不高，因此米歇爾試着在密爾沃基的募捐活動中加點兒料，她穿了一條粉紅連衣裙，還戴上了耀眼的項鍊。
顧問們建議她要提醒觀衆奧巴馬就職時大家的激動之情，當時人們對未來抱有更大的希望。
米歇爾還是奧巴馬最堅定的支持者。由於美國經濟長期萎靡不振，奧巴馬備受指責。
調查結果還表明，有60%的男性和70%的女性讚賞米歇爾作爲第一夫人的表現。
Vocabulary:
saviour: a person who saves, rescues, or delivers（救星，救世主）
pizzazz: attractive style; dash; flair（激情，活潑）
cheerleader: 某一政治家、某種觀點或做法等的支持者，搖旗吶喊者
