Michelle Obama - Target (Photos)

Talk about a staged photo op!

Michelle Obama "being spotted at Target" is as manufactured, and as misguided, as President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" moment on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in 2003.

From CBS News:

AP photographer Charles Dharapak told CBS News he took pictures of the first lady at the Target on Route 1 in Alexandria, Virginia.

The first lady's office confirmed that the pictures showed Mrs. Obama, though it did not immediately respond when asked if it tipped off Dharapak.

"It is not uncommon for the First Lady to slip out to run an errand, eat at a local restaurant or otherwise enjoy the city outside the White House gates," said Kristina Schake, communications director for the First Lady.

In the photographs, the first lady is wearing a Nike baseball cap, sunglasses and a floral-print button-down shirt with a neon v-neck underlay.

...The AP reported that Secret Service agents, dressed casually, arrived at the store 30 minutes before the first lady, who shopped with an assistant. She reportedly spent 30-40 minutes shopping and was only recognized by her cashier.

Here's a photo of Michelle Obama pretending to be "one of us."



Here's video from CBS Evening News, anchorman Scott Pelley with the story:



This is SO lame.

Pelley was swooning.

SCOTT PELLEY: Yes, in that ball cap, behind those sunglasses, is the first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, shopping today at Target - the one in Alexandria, Virginia. She spent about half an hour in the store, pushing her own cart!

Oh, my God! Michelle pushed her own cart! At Target!

That means she understands me!

Yeah, no. No way.

Just days ago she and Obama did a string of glitzy fundraisers on the West Coast, raking in millions of dollars.

But of course, all the while, Michelle was anxious to get back to DC and run her errands. She probably had to pick up the Tide, Bounty paper towels, and Trick-or-Treat candy that are on sale at Target this week.

Michelle at Target is a joke. Maybe she was trying out her Halloween costume - an American shopper trying to save pennies.

I wonder if she used her Target REDcard. She could have saved 5 percent on her purchases. My guess is she doesn't have one.

How much did her little Target stunt cost taxpayers? What kind of extra security did we have to pay for so she could get a photographer to capture the image of her in line at Target?

Michelle is not like us. She doesn't do weekly Target runs. She was slumming it for the camera. She's not kidding anyone.

Note to AP photographer Charles Dharapak and other AP photographers: E-mail me if you want to photograph me in line at Target. Unlike Michelle, I won't be shopping with an assistant and I won't be wearing a cap or sunglasses.