MICHELLE RISING - AT 9:30 A.M. ET:  The Times of London has picked up the Washington buzz that Michelle Obama is making her move into Hillaryland:

Over the past five months Michelle Obama has basked in some of the most flattering reviews ever earned by an American first lady. Yet the first stirrings of discontent are beginning to surface as President Barack Obama’s wife emerges from her newly installed White House vegetable garden in search of a meatier political role.

Reports last week that she is seeking to expand her influence in her husband’s administration set alarm bells ringing among Democratic veterans.

Despite denials from White House officials that Michelle Obama is suffering from “Hillary-itis” — a burning desire to help her husband run the country — her long-running interest in healthcare has raised painful memories of 1994, when Hillary Clinton presided over a political debacle as her health reform proposals collapsed in Congress.

COMMENT:  One key element to watch here is when, or whether, the delicate issue of race begins to fade away, and the Obamas are seen as just another president and first lady.  Reluctance to criticize them has, in some circles, clearly been tied to awkwardness about race.  But I sense that the awkwardness is starting, just starting, to fade. 

Remember that Hillary harbored, and still harbors, presidential ambitions.  Can Michelle be far behind? 

June 28, 2009