Tales from the Trail

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.”

Fox News Channel has raised the ire of Barack Obama supporters again, this time for referring to the Democratic candidate’s wife Michelle as his “baby mama.”

Fox ran a graphic reading “Outraged liberals: Stop picking on Obama’s baby mama!” during a June 11 segment about planned Republican attacks on the candidate’s outspoken spouse.

According to the Urban Dictionary, “baby mama” is slang for the unmarried mother of a man’s children.

Michelle Obama has a new defender from those who say she isn’t patriotic enough — First Lady Laura Bush. In an interview with ABC News, Bush said that Obama’s February remark that she was proud of the United States “for the first time in my adult life” was misconstrued.

“I think she probably meant ‘I’m more proud.’ That’s what she really meant,” Bush said from Afghanistan.

“You have to be really careful in what you say because everything you say is looked at and in many cases misconstrued,” she said.

MCKEESPORT, Pa. – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama often tells the adoring audiences he draws to his large campaign rallies that he is “not a perfect man.”

But he usually steers clear of offering any specifics about his flaws.

At a town-hall style gathering outside of Pittsburgh on Monday, he was asked by a young supporter to give an example of both a “good quality” and a “bad quality” he has.

Obama eagerly delved into the first part of the question, saying he was honest and forthright. He offered a list of examples of that from his political career, citing a decision to give a speech in Detroit calling for strict fuel-economy standards and a separate speech on Wall Street calling for higher taxes for the wealthy.