First lady a not-so-secret 2012 campaign weapon (AP)

WASHINGTON – Election Day is more than a year away, but the 2012 presidential campaign already is well under way for Michelle Obama.

The first lady is promising to put herself into the election effort like never before, and she's asking Democratic activists to do the same.

Since May, the first lady has headlined more than a dozen fundraisers for her husband and Democratic causes. She's raising millions and sketching a portrait of her husband that is drawn with an intimacy that no one else can match.

The first lady is cramming in three more fundraisers on Friday, the last day of the reporting period for quarterly campaign fundraising. She's also blasted out emails to the party faithful, trying to recapture the energy that has waned since her husband's 2008 campaign.