Michelle Obama seen as popular with Oklahoma Democrats

“She's just a classy lady that can connect with everybody, and I think she does that extremely well as first lady,” said Betty Simmons, a delegate from Lawton. “The care and compassion she has shown for military families and also dealing with the obesity problem, I think those are two things that have really put her in the hearts of Americans.”

Mark Temple said the 48-year-old first lady “doesn't try to be something that she's not. She identifies with where she came from.”

Moreover, he said, she is accessible, making herself available “to anybody who wanted to speak to her, who had ideas and concerns.”

According to a Gallup poll in late May, the first lady's approval rating was 66 percent, and she is expected to appear often on the campaign trail as a surrogate for her husband. She is scheduled to address several different groups at the convention this week — including blacks and Hispanics — and participate in a USO project.

State Rep. Mike Shelton, of Oklahoma City, said the first lady has set a new standard for women around the world.

“She's changing the way people think of first ladies,'' he said. “She is a go-getter; she's not sitting in the White House worrying about the decorating.”