Sixty-one percent (61%) of U.S. voters now have a favorable opinion of First Lady Michelle Obama, including 41% whose view of her is Very Favorable, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Thirty percent (30%) have an unfavorable opinion of the first lady, including 14% Very Unfavorable. Nine percent (9%) are undecided.

The new numbers mark a five-point increase in favorability for Mrs. Obama since her husband was elected president in early November and are her highest ratings to date in Rasmussen Reports surveys. In November, 62% of voters expected her to be an activist first lady like Hillary Clinton rather than a more traditional one like Laura Bush.

Most voters (58%) now say Mrs. Obama will be at least somewhat involved in policy decisions, including 17% who expect her to be Very Involved. Only seven percent (7%) say she will not be involved at all.

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Women have a slightly higher opinion of Mrs. Obama than men do. Forty-three percent (43%) of female voters say their view of her is Very Favorable, as do 38% of male voters. Women are a bit more likely to say she will be involved in policy decisions, too.

Seventy-seven percent (77%) of African-American voters have a Very Favorable view of Mrs. Obama, the first black first lady, compared to 38% of whites. While 13% of whites see her in a Very Unfavorable light, just two percent (2%) of blacks agree. Blacks are also twice as likely as whites to think she will be Very Involved in policy decisions.

Naturally, a partisan divide is evident. While 68% of Democrats have a Very Favorable view of the first lady, just 15% of Republicans and 31% of voters not affiliated with either party feel the same way. Twenty-three percent (23%) of GOP voters, in fact, have a Very Unfavorable opinion of Mrs. Obama, compared to 19% of unaffiliateds and three percent (3%) of Democrats.

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Republicans and 57% of both Democrats and unaffiliated voters think Mrs. Obama will be at least somewhat involved in policy decisions. While 10% of GOP voters and unaffiliated voters say she will not be involved at all in such decisions, only four percent (4%) of Democrats believe that to be true.

Mrs. Obama, 45, has gotten celebrity treatment from most media outlets, appearing on magazine covers and touted for her fashion sense. On a policy level, she has focused so far on helping military families and encouraging Americans to eat healthier.

Just before the Democratic National Convention last August, four-out-of-10 voters described Mrs. Obama as Very Liberal. A Princeton- and Harvard-educated lawyer and hospital executive, she was criticized early in the campaign for negative comments she made about U.S. society. Mrs. Obama has been largely silent on major issues since then.

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