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After the visit, East Wing aides snickered at the black dress with rhinestone belt buckle that Raisa had worn to the late-morning coffee. "A bit cocktailish, don't you think?" one said. White House officials were also miffed that Raisa chose to set up a colloquy with prominent women at the home of Democratic Fund Raiser Pamela Harriman. Among the guests: Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, University of Chicago President Hanna Gray, Publisher Katharine Graham and Senators Barbara Mikulski and Nancy Kassebaum. Nonetheless, by the end of the summit, official patch-up stories were issuing from the White House. Raisa, it was said, had asked Nancy at the Soviets' Thursday dinner, "What is this about our not liking each other?" The First Lady described her Soviet counterpart as puzzled. "Such stories are so trivial and silly," Nancy Reagan said.
If the U.S. media made much of the tiff, Raisa's activities were given more sober coverage in the Soviet Union, where she is referred to as "Gorbachev's spouse." Despite recent criticism that Raisa has assumed too visible a role, Soviet television viewers were treated to a snippet of her singing Moscow Nights at the state dinner. TASS, the state news agency, published stories about her National Gallery visit and her meeting with a friendly group of Armenians at the Soviet embassy.
By chance, the Armenian gathering gave Raisa an opportunity to show off her unflappability. Informed of the unauthorized presence of a TIME correspondent, Raisa purred, "There is nothing to be concerned about. The American and Soviet press should work together to build peace." She put her arm around the correspondent and smiled as her personal photographer took their picture.
Raisa's campaign appearances revealed a convergence of the Gorbachev style: each talking but rarely listening, each lecturing and posturing, while gushing charm. "This is the first person I've ever met who talks more than I do," marveled Barbara Mikulski after her encounter with Raisa. So what's new in politics?