With Democratic candidates refusing campaign visits from President Barack Obama and often refusing to even be seen with him at ceremonial airport greetings, it's obvious they believe that highlighting any connection with the unpopular president will hurt their chances in November. Second stringer Vice President Joe Biden who has spent the last 18 months acting as a gaffe-prone cheerleader for the Obama agenda can't help either and former President Bill Clinton's loyalties may be with someone other than Mr. Obama in 2012. So why not do what many presidents have done and send the First Lady out to charm the voters? Because Michelle Obama seems to have lost much of her charm.

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When First Lady Michelle Obama decided to make the fight against obesity her pet cause, it sounded to many like a benign and reasonable way for a woman and mother in her position to draw attention to an important issue. But like most things Obama, it raised an alarm with others that the federal government would attempt to use the issue to grab more control over American lives. That second group got an I-told-you-so opportunity today as a new White House report calls childhood obesity in America "a national health crisis" and proposes plenty of restrictive ideas.

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