NEW YORK - Michelle Obama wrote a thank-you note to Laura Bush after the first lady spoke up in defense of the wife of the Democratic presidential candidate, Obama said on Wednesday.

Obama, who is married to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, created a controversy on the campaign trail in February when she said, “For the first time in my adult lifetime I am really proud of my country.”

After critics questioned her patriotism because of the remark, Obama has frequently said she is proud of her country.

During an appearance on ABC Television’s “The View” on Wednesday, she re-stated her pride in the United States and said her controversial comment was referring to being proud of the political process this year.

Laura Bush came to Obama’s defense earlier this month, telling ABC’s “Good Morning America”: “I think she probably meant, ‘I’m more proud.’ You have to be very careful in what you say. Everything you say is looked at and in many cases misconstrued.”

Obama said she appreciated Bush’s comments and concern.

“I was touched by it and actually I sent her a note,” Obama said on “The View.” “It took me a while to write it. Like, how do I address her? I sent it to ‘Madam First Lady.’ I don’t want to talk about it because she might not have it yet.

“That’s what I like about Laura Bush, her whole rational approach to these issues. I am taking some cues. There’s a reason why people like her, because she doesn’t sort of fuel the fire.”

- Reporting by Daniel Trotta

- Photo credit: Reuters/ Rick Wilking (Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama campaigning in Las Vegas in January 2008)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Barack Obama sought to distance himself further Friday from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, telling a North Carolina rally that comments by his former pastor that have been  described as ”crazy” should not be used to judge his candidacy.

Obama has said his presidential bid was damaged by a recent series of public appearances by Wright, in which the pastor repeated earlier charges the Sept. 11 attacks were retribution for U.S. foreign policy and that the U.S. government had a hand in spreading AIDS to blacks.

But the Illinois senator, locked in a battle for the Democratic nomination with Sen. Hillary Clinton, said earlier on Friday in Indianapolis he would leave it to the pollsters to analyze the extent of the impact from the Wright flap on his campaign.
Obama broke publicly with his longtime pastor earlier this week when he called a news conference to criticize Wright’s remarks as “outrageous” and “appalling.”

“As we’ve done well in this election, as we’ve been successful, increasingly my opponents have spent their time talking, not about the issues, but about me,” Obama told a rally of about 9,000 people at Charlotte’s Cricket Arena.

“They’ve been saying, ‘Well, look at those crazy things his former pastor said or he’s not wearing a flag pin or he’s got a funny name, sounds like he’s Muslim,’” he said. “Those are strategies to divide us. We’ve seen those strategies before.”

Obama said his critics were out of line in questioning his patriotism.

“You want to understand my patriotism? I owe everything to this country,” he said. 

Photo Credit: Reuters/Chris Keane (Obama speaks in Charlotte, N.C.)