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Candidate’s wife says she’ll focus on military families

Michelle Obama says military families can expect to see more of her.

Obama told USA Today in late June that the struggles of military families would be one of her areas of focus as first lady. On the campaign trail for her husband, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, she already has met with military families in two locations: with about 30 spouses in Fayetteville, N.C., near Fort Bragg, on May 5, and with about a dozen spouses in Hopkinsville, Ky., near Fort Campbell, on May 19.

Although the schedule for upcoming visits was not available at press time, more meetings are expected starting within the next few weeks, according to Obama’s campaign office.

According to Obama’s campaign, these meetings with military families grew out of a series of round-table discussions with working women held in New Hampshire.

In North Carolina and Kentucky, spouses told Obama about the stresses of families whose service members are at war. Obama told the group in Fayetteville that until her husband’s campaign, she, like many other Americans, didn’t know much about the military, according to an article in the May 6 Fayetteville Observer.

She told spouses there that the military needs to count all the costs, such as post-deployment health care and the effect on families, when making a decision whether to go to war, according to the article.

Obama told the group in Kentucky that it’s important to speak up about the hardships of being a spouse left to handle things on the home front.

“You become everything at home — you are mom, dad, disciplinarian,” she said, according to an article on WBKO TV’s Web site.

DISCUSS: Focus on military families