Michelle Obama, taking the stage tonight at the Democratic National Convention, said her husband “doesn’t care where you’re from or what your background is” because Americans are bound by something deeper: a belief that this country “should be a place where you can make it if you try.”
“He knows that thread that connects us – our belief in America’s promise, our commitment to our children’s future – is strong enough to hold us together as one nation even when we disagree,” she said, dazzling the crowd of delegates, who waved blue-and-white “Michelle” posters and gave her a long standing ovation.
Michelle Obama said she and her husband started their journey toward the White House 19 months ago “with little more than our faith in each other and a hunger for change.”
“I come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president,” she said. “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 when I go to bed at night. Their future and all our children’s future is my stake in this election.”
“Isn’t She Lovely” blared into the Pepsi Center as Michelle Obama ended her speech and her two daughters – Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7 – joined her on stage. Then, to cap off the first night of the convention, Barack Obama appeared live via video on giant screens.
“Now you know why I asked her out so many times, even though she said no,” Barack Obama, who was in Kansas City, told cheering delegates. “You want a persistent president.”
“Michelle, you were unbelievable and you also look very cute.”
In her speech, Michelle Obama, 44, said that before she and Barack married, she joined him as he visited a community trying to rebuild after steel plants had closed.
“They believed, like you and I believe, that America should be a place where you can make it if you try,” she said. “Barack stood up that day and spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about the world as it is and the world as it should be And he said that all too often we accept the distance between the two and settle for the world as it is, even when it doesn’t reflect our values and aspirations.”
Michelle Obama said she learned from her parents, who didn’t go to college, about the American dream. She called her dad, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 30, her “rock.”
“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,” she said.
Michelle Obama talked of the conviction Americans have to make a better life – from “people who work the day shift, kiss their kids goodnight and head out for the night shift” to “military families who say grace each night with an empty seat at the table.”
And she praised Hillary Clinton, drawing big cheers from many of the delegates. She credited her for putting “those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, so that our daughters and sons can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher.”
Michelle Obama said Barack is the same man today that she “fell in love with 19 years ago.”
“He’s the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital 10 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,” she said.
Michelle Obama was introduced by her brother, Craig Robinson, who said he watched her grow into a poised young woman and compassionate mother.
“It’s funny to think this is the same person who used to wake me up early – and I mean early – on Christmas morning,” he said, telling the crowd she managed to memorize every episode of the Brady Bunch even though they were allowed only one hour of television per night.
Robinson, coach of the Oregon State men’s basketball team, said his sister asked him to play basketball with Barack Obama after she met him. His analysis?
“He’s confident but not cocky. He’ll take the shot if he’s open. He’s a team player … and he won’t back down from any challenge,” Robinson said. “I’ve watched Michelle and Barack strengthen each other.”
