Michelle Obama cuts ties with major Wal-Mart supplier

You can always tell when political campaigns change from first gear to second gear. The wife of Democratic U.S. Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has resigned from a part-time position at TreeHouse Foods (NYSE: THS), a major Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) vendor. This move comes a week after her husband said he would not shop at Wal-Mart based on its anti-union stance.

With U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton moving away from her past association with Wal-Mart and with the wife of a Clinton competitor now cutting any appearance of impropriety with the retailer through a vendor relationship, Wal-Mart's political ties are in the limelight at the moment. Obama officially gave a reason of "increased demands on her time" when resigning from TreeHouse. Are you convinced?

Was Obama's resignation a response to her husband's comments or a way to try and head off dirt digging by political opponents hoping to get their claws into Mr. Obama's heels as he turns up the heat on his Presidential run? With Wal-Mart the target of organized labor (like it always will be), the chess move here by Mrs. Obama is a curious one. Or, perhaps there's no motive at all beyond how she explained it.