Michelle Obama: My values are yours
DENVER -- Michelle Obama, the wife of presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama, opened the Democratic National Convention tonight with a high-stakes speech designed to place her family squarely within the experience of American households everywhere.
It is a challenge each spouse before her has faced -- notably Teresa Heinz Kerry in 2004 -- but one that is also entirely unique to her: As the first potential African-American first lady, Michelle Obama has an unusually complicated task in trying to relate to and connect with the millions of families across the country looking for a president who understands and represents them.
Delegates first saw a video about her that featured Michelle Obama's mother. She was introduced by her older brother Craig, who told of how his little sister -- limited to one hour of television a day -- still managed to memorize every episode of "The Brady Bunch."
"I come here tonight as a sister, blessed with a brother who is my mentor, my protector and my lifelong friend," Michelle Obama said.
"I come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president. And I come here as a Mom whose girls are the heart of my heart and the center of my world -- they're the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing I think about before I go to bed at night. Their future -- and all our children's future -- is my stake in this election."
She spoke movingly about her father, who died of multiple sclerosis.
"He and my mom poured everything they had into me and Craig. It was the greatest gift a child can receive: never doubting for a single minute that you're loved, and cherished, and have a place in this world. And thanks to their faith and hard work, we both were able to go on to college. So I know firsthand from their lives -- and mine -- that the American Dream endures.
"And you know, what struck me when I first met Barack was that even though he had this funny name, even though he'd grown up all the way across the continent in Hawaii, his family was so much like mine. He was raised by grandparents who were working class folks just like my parents, and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills just like we did. Like my family, they scrimped and saved so that he could have opportunities they never had themselves. And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree with them."
Michelle Obama paid tribute to both her husband's main rival for the nomination, and his new running mate, saying they all share the same conviction about America.
"People like Hillary Clinton, who put those 18 million cracks in that glass ceiling, so that our daughters -- and sons -- can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher. People like Joe Biden, who's never forgotten where he came from, and never stopped fighting for folks who work long hours and face long odds and need someone on their side again.
"All of us driven by the simple belief that the world as it is just won't do -- that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be. And that is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack's journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope.
"And you see, that is why I love this country," she said, as delegates stood and cheered.
After she accepted the applause of the crowd and brought her daughters Malia and Sasha out on stage, Barack Obama appeared on the big screen from Kansas City.
"Hi sweetie," Obama said. "Now you know why I asked her out so many times even though she said no. You want a persistent president."
He then talked to his daughters, asking how their mother did and said he would see them Thursday.
The theme of the opening night, "One Nation," sums up the grand ambitions Democratic Party leaders are setting for the convention kickoff. In addition to aligning the Obamas' story with the country's, the program is meant to showcase the Democrats' broad, multicultural body politic, with speeches from prominent black, Asian-American, and Hispanic figures.
Democratic delegates said they viewed Michelle Obama's speech as her chance to prove to voters around the country that she's just like them.
"They will look for a first lady they can identify with," said Sean Bruno, a delegate from New Orleans. "Someone that's just like them -- a mother, a wife. Coming across as genuine, that's going to be key."
Earl Hilliard Jr., an Alabama state legislator and a convention delegate, added, "This will be important for her to show that she's real."
Michelle Obama clearly aims for that tonight, as she will tell the convention hall that "each of us also comes here tonight by way of our own improbable journey." She comes, she says, as a sister, a wife, a mother, and a daughter.
"My mother’s love has always been a sustaining force for our family, and one of my greatest joys is seeing her integrity, her compassion, and her intelligence reflected in my own daughters," she will say.
Michelle Obama is out more than anything to humanize her husband, and share the side of him -- and one of her -- the public doesn't always see.
"In the end, after all that’s happened these past 19 months, the Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with 19 years ago," she will say. "He's the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital ten years ago this summer, inching along at a snail's pace, peering anxiously at us in the rearview mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands, determined to give her everything he'd struggled so hard for himself, determined to give her what he never had: the affirming embrace of a father's love."
"Ok, this is the 2nd time I've never been prouder of my country".
- Michelle Obama
Hmmm.... Nobama08. You must be very proud of your country.
The McCainiacs are everywhere... LOL... Are you being paid to make these inane statements?
She's a fanastic Orator and frankly, I think she gave a lot of people reassurance that she will make a great first lady and her husband will be a superb, superb, president of the USA.
Go Obama '08!
-Dan Hogan
Why don't you listen to her, it was an amazing speech
Her speech was like Obama's campaign, fluff. When I was younger, I would get caught up with words, but a sappy story doesn't make people's lives better. Their time as "community organizers" was calculated, they leveraged every little bit to get street credit in the South Side. They live like millionaires and had a slum lord convicted felon (public corruption) help buy their property. So this slum lord predator that preyed on the poor and stole money that was set aside for the poor was a campaign donor for Obama and helped them buy their property. I feel badly for all the nice people that cried when she spoke; they didn't see that she was being calculated and trying to hit the buttons to eliminate her prior words surrounding not being a proud American. Every family has a nice story. I am tired of hearing about the guy that works two jobs and kisses his kids before going to the night shift. Obama exercised at the most elite health clubs in Chicago and went to Prep Schools when he was a kid. I honestly don't care about his story. If he did anything to help the economy in Chicago that may have helped that guy sustain one salary that might be meaningful. As long as Democrats talk about this sappy straw man two job sob story, election year after election year makes you wonder if they ever actually want to make that guys life better because they'd lose that sob story.
Sob stories and sappy stories don't pay the bills and if people think that they can follow in the Obama's footsteps they won't bother work hard and pull the levers of capitalism, they will suckle on the milk of socialism. Someone had to pay the freight for Obama's community organizer job, and the parents who paid the tuitions of the U Chicago kids paid for Michelle Obama's job.
I really, really want to be a Democrat again, but the Democrats are about playing Santa Claus and feeding the weak fish. If they taught the weak to fish they might manufacture more Republicans, because Republicans value less goverenment and more personal responsibility.
As far as the Globe is concerned, most writers seem to think that their readers are morons and have the attention span of a ten year old. Republicans believe that individuals are capable and actually respect individuals and ask them to take responsibility, Democrats provide excuses for those that struggle and give them someone to blame for their troubles.
Amazing Speech. Job well done! Michelle Obama is an idol that every single person in america should share some kind of connection with.
I think it's absolutely hysterical that every liberal thinks that Obama already won! The sad part is, that he has gotten 90% of the attention from the media, and is still in a dead heat with John McCain. Let me qualify this by saying I am NOT a conservative. I think Bush was one of the worst presidents in histroy, and wish the Democrats could have put forward someone electable. Obama really doesn't have much of a shot in middle America. He will dominate the coasts, but you will see how middle America thinks when every midwestern state outside of Barack's homestate votes for McCain.
Cheap shot with no depth or understanding
Did you know John McCain was a POW? In Vietnam, really. He's also a former prisoner of war. He doesn't like to talk about it much. Just 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Michelle speech is heart felt and well recieved. There is no doubt that she has a great affection for our country. It is amazing to me how someone can pick out a portion of passage from someones speech not interacted it with the entirer sentence before it and continuously place and unfounded value on the love she has for America and being a part of the American Dream. I am just gonna put it there like this..I am a educated black woman, I have not alway embraced a love for this country as it has not always embraced a love for many generations of people of color, esp. Blacks..but as times changes, people change, thier views change, and they embrace the change because it embraces them, you began to see that there is hope, and that the fight for equality in America still exist be with less restraints (somewhat). Today I see America on a new horizon, one that is long overdue..for many people which include women etc...So lets take a postive attitude, build each other up, look for the best in each other. and stop being critical..
I wept to hear Kennedy, a continual stalwart for the workaday man, speak. And I hope that we do see him in January.
I was gladdened to see Michele speak, and I do hope they can get this country on track after years of derailment, by both sides. With young children, they should really care about the direction the world is going.
This is the sarcastic, mean-spirited, faux black-street speaker, entitlement for life Michelle Obama we didn't hear last night:
"Life is not good: we’re a divided country, we’re a country that is “just downright mean,” we are “guided by fear,” we’re a nation of cynics, sloths, and complacents. “We have become a nation of struggling folks who are barely making it every day,” she said, as heads bobbed in the pews. “Folks are just jammed up, and it’s gotten worse over my lifetime. And, doggone it, I’m young. Forty-four!”
Who's she talkin' 'bout Willis? Sloths? Complacents? Jamed up? What kind of DOOMSDAY NEGATIVE crappola is that?!!! She's got a sick view of America.
From these bleak generalities, Obama moves into specific complaints. Used to be, she will say, that you could count on a decent education in the neighborhood. But now there are all these charter schools and magnet schools that you have to “finagle” to get into. (Obama herself attended a magnet school and her children go to private school, but never mind.) Health care is out of reach (”Let me tell you, don’t get sick in America”), pensions are disappearing, college is too expensive, and even if you can figure out a way to go to college you won’t be able to recoup the cost of the degree in many of the professions for which you needed it in the first place. “You’re looking at a young couple that’s just a few years out of debt,” Obama said. “See, because, we went to those good schools, and we didn’t have trust funds. I’m still waiting for Barack’s trust fund. Especially after I heard that Dick Cheney was s’posed to be a relative or something. Where's my something from this country?, they owe me!"
She's such a fake. Just like her husband.
I want to read that entire speech "Where's the change". Is there a link you could provide us with.
This is the sarcastic, mean-spirited, faux black-street speaker, entitlement for life Michelle Obama we didn't hear last night:
"Life is not good: we’re a divided country, we’re a country that is “just downright mean,” we are “guided by fear,” we’re a nation of cynics, sloths, and complacents. “We have become a nation of struggling folks who are barely making it every day,” she said, as heads bobbed in the pews. “Folks are just jammed up, and it’s gotten worse over my lifetime. And, doggone it, I’m young. Forty-four!”
Who's she talkin' 'bout Willis? Sloths? Complacents? Jamed up? What kind of DOOMSDAY NEGATIVE crappola is that?!!! She's got a sick view of America.
From these bleak generalities, Obama moves into specific complaints. Used to be, she will say, that you could count on a decent education in the neighborhood. But now there are all these charter schools and magnet schools that you have to “finagle” to get into. (Obama herself attended a magnet school and her children go to private school, but never mind.) Health care is out of reach (”Let me tell you, don’t get sick in America”), pensions are disappearing, college is too expensive, and even if you can figure out a way to go to college you won’t be able to recoup the cost of the degree in many of the professions for which you needed it in the first place. “You’re looking at a young couple that’s just a few years out of debt,” Obama said. “See, because, we went to those good schools, and we didn’t have trust funds. I’m still waiting for Barack’s trust fund. Especially after I heard that Dick Cheney was s’posed to be a relative or something. Where's my something from this country?, they owe me!"
She's such a fake. Just like her husband.
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