Last year we noted the hypocrisy of Michelle Obama serving on the board of Tree House Foods, whose major customer is Wal-Mart, while her husband pandered to unions in their campaign against the giant retailer that has improved the lives of low income Americans so greatly. Mrs. Obama has now resigned from that post, giving up the $51,200 per year she earned in director's fees.

Of course, that is chicken feed compared to the book earnings the couple enjoyed last year, and Mrs. Obama has not yet published anything of her own. And it eliminates an embarassing connection, at least as the Democrats look at the world. Heck, John Edwards has shown that one speech on poverty can earn more than a year's worth of director's fees in an hour or so, speaking about the horrors of poverty, so it is really a smart business move.

''As my campaign commitments continue to ramp up, it is becoming more difficult for me to provide the type of focus I would like on my professional responsibilities,'' Michelle Obama said in a written statement.

An administrator at the University of Chicago Hospitals, she also has significantly curtailed her work hours to campaign for her husband, who would be the first black president if elected.