Michelle Obama handed a tissue to Mary Henley, a 78-year-old widow facing bankruptcy, during an event in Richmond, Virginia.

By PATRICK HEALY

RICHMOND, Virginia - As Michelle Obama courted working women in battleground states recently by talking about the tough balancing acts in their lives, she was engaging in a balancing act of her own: acting as a pointed critic of the Republican ticket while projecting an affable, ladylike (as in first lady) persona.
This is no easy task. Working women with children could become the decisive voters in November, Mrs. Obama noted. Yet the Obama campaign does not have a working woman in its political camp who enjoys the high profile of Governor Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, who is also trying to appeal to a strong part of the female vote.
As they waited for Mrs. Obama to speak at events in Virginia recently, some Democratic supporters of Senator Barack Obama, the party’s presidential nominee, said he might come to regret not picking Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as his running mate this year if Ms. Palin and the Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, end up with a surprisingly large vote from women.
Mrs. Clinton is campaigning only once or twice a week for Mr. Obama, as opposed to Ms. Palin’s appeals to women at events several times a day. That leaves Mrs. Obama as the Democratic campaign’s busiest and most high-profile female surrogate at a time when the fight for women is intensifying.
Yet, as a potential first lady, Mrs. Obama cannot be too aggressive. For one thing, some female voters and others are still deciding whether they like her, according to public opinion polls .
“Co-workers of mine who had supported Hillary for president are now backing Palin and McCain, and it breaks my heart,” said Emily Moore, a 28-yearold occupational therapist who attended an “Economic Roundtable With Working Women” event with Mrs. Obama here on September 17.
“More people think of Michelle Obama as an elitist than Hillary, which is funny to me,” she added. “I think it’d be the other way around.”
At events in Virginia and, on September 18, in another key state, North Carolina, Mrs. Obama thoroughly explained her husband’s plans for women and families, like equal-pay laws, universal health care and student financial aid. “Women’s votes will make the difference in this race,” she said in Richmond, “so what I urge women to do is understand the issues and vote on the issues.”
Yet as Mrs. Obama juggled her own jobs as a political spouse, her critiques of Republican policies had a somewhat muted quality. Unlike Mrs. Clinton, who urged supporters at a recent event to “defeat the McCain-Palin ticket,” Mrs. Obama rarely mentioned the Republicans by name, and some of her references were opaque.
At a conversation with working women in Richmond, she said the pocketbook struggles middle-class families faced were real. “I think it’s important for people to know that this isn’t in your head, that this is really happening, and we need politicians who understand that,” Mrs. Obama said.
Her remark seemed like a counterpoint to the controversial comment by an economic adviser to Mr. McCain, former Senator Phil Gramm, that Americans were in a “mental recession” over the economy. Of 10 people asked about the remark at the Obama event, none of the audience members instantly recalled that line by Mrs. Obama, though several did remember the Gramm remark.
Democrats said it was important for Mrs. Obama to be re-energizing core voters, in light of the fresh interest in Ms. Palin.
“This is challenging - it’s hard to get a woman of substance like Michelle or Hillary to go against a woman of illusion like Palin,” said Nina Johnston, an Obama supporter, as she waited for a rally at the University of Virginia to begin. “But our Democratic women leaders have to work the base - they’ve got to make clear what’s at stake for women.”