Michelle Obama praises Hillary Clinton

CHICAGO, July 29 (UPI) -- Michelle Obama, wife of likely Democratic Party U.S. presidential nominee U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, says Hillary Clinton made her husband "a better candidate."

Appearing Monday at a Chicago hotel, Michelle Obama addressed the mostly female participants of a Women for Obama fundraiser by praising Clinton, A U.S. senator from New York and a former Democratic presidential rival of her husband's, the Chicago Tribune reported.

"My husband is a better candidate because of her," the newspaper reported Obama as saying. "My daughters will think of themselves differently because of her. All of our children, our girls, will believe in the possibility of something bigger because of her."

Appearing at the event with her was Alice Waters, a healthy foods advocate whose Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., is regarded as one the country's hottest restaurants, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

The newspaper said Waters sat at Obama's table with Michelle's mother, Marian Robinson, and her friend Kaye Wilson, who is godmother to the Obama daughters. Missy Lavender, who heads Chicago's Womens Health Foundation and was a major supporter of Clinton's, was also at the table.