boulder Michelle Obama told college students Wednesday that they held the power to change the country’s future — but only if they get themselves and their friends to vote.
In a 30-minute speech that seesawed between advocating for her husband, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, and rallying Coloradans to register to vote before Monday’s deadline, Michelle Obama told roughly 9,700 people at the University of Colorado that winning wouldn’t be easy.
“We can change our future. We can perhaps change the world,” she said to an enthusiastic crowd at Farrand Field. “We’re going to need your prayers; we’re going to need your work. We’re going to need you to pray; we’re going to need you to work. And then after you work, pray a little more. And then after you’ve prayed, keep working.”
The transformation, she said, in health care, education, jobs, renewable energy and the war in Iraq — issues that she said “aren’t just politics, they are personal” — could come from the leadership of her husband and the enthusiasm generated by Americans who support him.
“We have seen young people of all backgrounds and races finding their voice and really believing that this time is their time and that this candidate is someone they can believe in,” she said. “And we’ve seen some not so young people . . . who said they have never felt this way about a candidate in their lifetime.”
The biggest cheers of the day came when Michelle Obama addressed the war in Iraq.
“There is only one candidate who has a clear timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq responsibly,” she said. “And take the $10 billion we are spending every month in Iraq and spending it here.”
Register, take cynics along
Thousands of middle-aged couples sporting tie-dyes and Khakis, senior citizens clad in baseball hats and college students wearing jeans and T-shirts flooded onto the field to catch a glimpse of her.
Whether it was because they were in class, sleeping or had no interest, students appeared to be the minority in the crowd.
Even so, Michelle Obama reached out to them directly, noting that 170,000 young, eligible voters in Colorado are not yet registered to vote.
She urged them to register — and to drag with them five other “trifling people” in their life, those who are “cynical for a reason.”
“This is a swing state, and we want some swinging to go on here,” she said to cheers.
Karen Crummy: 303-954-1594 or kcrummy@denverpost.com
