After Nine Years, Oprah's Allowing Another Cover Girl on O Magazine: Michelle Obama

Oprah Winfrey's been resoundingly in the tank for Barack and Michelle Obama for several years now. On her show the other day, she touted how the Obamas would show the nation how to have family dinner together each night (as if they accomplished that on the campaign trail). On her show Friday, Oprah announced that someone else would share the cover of O Magazine: Michelle Obama, of course.

It's not going to be a hard-hitting story. Oprah's website promises:

Our new First Lady on the surprises of life in the White House ("If you want pie, there's pie! If something breaks, it's fixed. In an hour")...

For all the majesty of the White House, the First Lady has already infused it with a palpable ease; her presence makes the place feel open and approachable. When we sit down to talk, she seems as relaxed as she did when I first interviewed her and her husband in their Chicago apartment in 2004. "This room has the best light in the house," she tells me as we settle in, shoes off, on a comfortable sofa. "And there's pie here, too. The pie in the White House is dangerously good...."

The love came through in the questions:

Oprah: I had heart palpitations coming through the White House gate, recognizing that this really is now your home. It's the White House, and it's your home.

Michelle Obama: And it's a beautiful home. When you go out and come back, especially at night, with all the white lights on—it's just beautiful. We feel privileged, and we feel a responsibility to make it feel like the people's house. We have the good fortune of being able to sleep here, but this house belongs to America.