Because a just cause is always worth fighting for.
Posted on: Mon, Aug 25 2008 8:20 AM
Posted by: shellGVchick Posts: 1,261
WASHINGTON - Michelle is the Obama who fits in a small room. She does the coffeeklatch to Barack's coliseum.
For months now, she's lifted her husband up by downsizing him gently, while grappling with her own critics. Sure, he's the orator who electrifies the faithful by the tens of thousands. But he snores, and smells not so good in the morning.
Sure, he's got what it takes to be president, she offers. But he's "just a man."
A tall woman with an outsized personality of her own, Michelle Obama has toured the community centers, church basements and ballrooms of the land, pulling in a crowd of 50 here, 2,500 there, and mixing it up with cozy TV chats and glossy magazine features.
Monday night in Denver, the stage is hers at the Democratic National Convention for a prime-time speech introducing the potential first lady to her largest TV audience.
If part of her function has been to reveal the husband and dad side of the man addressing the masses, she also needs to show she's just a woman, just an American, just a patriot.
She'll be joined by her daughters, Malia and Sasha, her mother Marian Robinson, and her brother Craig Robinson, who will introduce her.
In the primaries, she was dubbed "the Closer" for her ability to persuade the undecided voters walking in to come on board before walking out. Now she's the opener, the first-night star called upon to testify about her husband's vision and values, and perhaps settle some doubts about herself.
The critics have come out early, to a point where Barack Obama told people to "lay off my wife." The Obama campaign created a Web site solely to counter innuendo about both of them, and first lady Laura Bush came unexpectedly to her defense.
A summer AP-Yahoo News poll found the public hasn't taken to her yet. Respondents were more apt to dislike her than Republican candidate John McCain's wife, Cindy. But mainly, Americans don't know either woman well.
Michelle Obama's playful fist bump with hubby when he sealed the Democratic nomination was taken in some quarters as a nefarious gesture.
Republicans in Tennessee and Washington state circulated video making hay with her statement that the campaign made her proud of America for the first time in her adult life. She said she meant pride in the political process.
Barack Obama called such attacks "low rent." But that video won't be going away.
"People aren't used to strong women," Michelle Obama remarked on ABC's "The View." That proposition is arguable, given the country's history with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, her activist years as first lady and her hard-charging, last-voter-standing primary campaign.
But, like Clinton, Obama can incite strong feelings for and against.
Her lack of pretense comes with a certain resistance to political packaging and she's expressed the surprise of the newly famous that a comment here or a gesture there can create such a fuss.
The even-keeled Laura Bush told her through the media that "everything you say is looked at and in many cases misconstrued." The first lady also said Michelle Obama must have meant she was "more proud" of her country than before, not proud for the first time.
"That's what I like about Laura Bush," Michelle Obama said in response. "There's a reason why people like her. It's because she doesn't, sort of, you know, fuel the fire."
She wrote a thank you note to "Dear madam first lady" and made clear she'd learned a thing or two from Laura Bush. "I'm taking some cues."
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson grew up on the South Side of Chicago in a family of modest means.
Fraser Robinson was a Democratic precinct captain who worked swing shifts at the water plant. His wife Marian raised the kids in a one-bedroom apartment on the top floor of her aunt's house, where Michelle and Craig slept in the living room, converted into two tiny bedrooms and a study area.
She fought her way into Princeton, and later to Harvard Law School, and began dating Obama while working at a Chicago corporate law firm. They've been married for 15 years.
She left corporate law for community service positions and later became an administrator of the University of Chicago hospitals. Daughters Malia and Sasha are 10 and 7. The couple reported making $4.2 million last year, their days of financial struggles well behind them.
Even so, she's proved an adept solo campaigner with blue-collar audiences and with women, able to make a connection with voters whose lives are an economic struggle. She laughs easily, hugs a lot, hangs tight after the speech and watches her sarcastic streak.
"I wake up every morning, wondering how on the Earth I'm going to pull off that next minor miracle to get through the day," she told a Chicago crowd.
She talks about work, workouts, parent-teacher conferences, hair appointments, the burdens of campaign travel, the plugged toilet that her husband left her to deal with one day.
"With the exception of the campaign trail and life in the public eye, I have to say that my life now is really not that much different from many of yours," she said.
Those are, of course, huge exceptions. But for the opener, the closer and everything in between, expect to see much more of Michelle the American everywoman. The one who, it turns out, has a daughter born on the Fourth of July.
Posted on: Tue, Aug 26 2008 1:57 AM
Posted by: Becky Posts: 1,555
Hey Shell! I need a report on how Michelle did. I missed the whole bloody thing! I went to a "Meet The Coaches" meeting tonight for my son, because he'll be playing football. Then, we had a parent booster club meeting and then I hit the local pub with some girlfriends. We had a blast, laughed our butts off and I also caught up on all the local gossip! So, I missed the whole thing. Let me know how it went, eh?
Becky
Posted on: Tue, Aug 26 2008 7:00 AM
Becky OMG she was amazing! She speaks softly yet confident. Very down to earth as well. Before she spoke they had a clip of some of her growing up. Her brother introduced her at the convention. She gave a lot of credit to her upbringing. Her dad was diagnosed with MS at 33 and she grew up humbled watching him. She touched on how a lot of people growing up said to her once you go off to college you'll never come back. She did though and she believes in honoring where you came from and trying to make a difference. They both are such intellegent people. They met at a law firm and he was in his first year. He asked her out time and time again and Michelle says who names their kid Barack Obama lol. He finally won her over asking her for icecream and that was it. I don't see how any one could not love her speech. Democrat or not. She has the background to really contribute something like no other first lady would. After her speech she brought her girls on stage and they watched Barack via satellite address the convention and he couldn't of been more proud. Her girls are really cute and the youngest one kept stealing the mic and wanting to talk to daddy it was cute. She really talked about family values and how black people no matter what social status they are from they all have the potential to be successful and productive members of society. She gave credit to Hilary which was fair for swinging those voters over to Barack's side. She mentioned how 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.” She added that in at last minute due to him just becoming mentioned as his VP. Her speech had been done for two weeks every one said. One thing I liked that she said was, Barack Obama is a human being just like you. He is not an “other,” he is not a “celebrity.” He is a father, a husband, a person. I think people forget that. They are not robots. I'm sure there has to be a place on the net that will show her speech. That's enough out of me.
Posted on: Tue, Aug 26 2008 7:56 AM
Here is her entire speech....
Michelle Obama: As you might imagine, for Barack, running for president is nothing compared to that first game of basketball with my brother Craig.
I can't tell you how much it means to have Craig and my mom here tonight. Like Craig, I can feel my dad looking down on us, just as I've felt his presence in every grace-filled moment of my life.
At 6-foot-6, I've often felt like Craig was looking down on me too...literally. But the truth is, both when we were kids and today, he wasn't looking down on me -- he was watching over me.
And he's been there for me every step of the way since that clear February day 19 months ago, when -- with little more than our faith in each other and a hunger for change -- we joined my husband, Barack Obama, on the improbable journey that has led us to this moment.
But each of us also comes here tonight by way of our own improbable journey.
I come here tonight as a sister, blessed with a brother who is my mentor, my protector and my lifelong friend.
And 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 when I go to bed at night. Their future -- and all our children's future -- is my stake in this election.
And I come here as a daughter -- raised on the South Side of Chicago by a father who was a blue collar city worker, and a mother who stayed at home with my brother and me. 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.
My Dad was our rock. Although he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his early thirties, he was our provider, our champion, our hero. But as he got sicker, it got harder for him to walk, it took him longer to get dressed in the morning. But if he was in pain, he never let on. He never stopped smiling and laughing -- even while struggling to button his shirt, even while using two canes to get himself across the room to give my Mom a kiss. He just woke up a little earlier, and worked a little harder.
He and my mom poured everything they had into me and Craig. It was the greatest gift a child could 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 their 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 that they never had for 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.
And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and to pass them on to the next generation. Because we want our children -- and all children in this nation -- to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.
And as our friendship grew, and I learned more about Barack, he introduced me to the work he'd done when he first moved to Chicago after college. You see instead of going to Wall Street, Barack had gone to work in neighborhoods devastated when steel plants shut down, and jobs dried up. And he'd been invited back to speak to people from those neighborhoods about how to rebuild their community.
The people gathered together that day were ordinary folks doing the best they could to build a good life. See they were parents trying to get by paycheck to paycheck; grandparents trying to get by on a fixed income; men frustrated that they couldn't support their families after their jobs disappeared. Those folks weren't asking for a handout or a shortcut. See they were ready to work -- they wanted to contribute. They believed -- like you and I believe -- that America should be a place where you can make it if you try.
And 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 we settle for the world as it is -- even when it doesn't reflect our values and aspirations. But he reminded us that we also know what our world should look like. He said we know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. And he urged us to believe in ourselves -- to find the strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be. And isn't that the great American story?
It's the story of men and women gathered in churches and union halls and high school gyms -- people who stood up and marched and risked everything they had -- refusing to settle, determined to mold our future into the shape of our ideals.
It is because of their will and determination that this week, we celebrate two anniversaries: the 88th anniversary of women winning the right to vote, and the 45th anniversary of that hot summer day when Dr. King lifted our sights and our hearts with his dream for our nation.
I stand here today at the crosscurrents of that history -- knowing that my piece of the American Dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me. All of them driven by the same conviction that drove my dad to get up an hour early each day to painstakingly dress himself for work. The same conviction that drives the men and women I've met all across this country:
People who work the day shift, kiss their kids goodnight, and head out for the night shift -- without disappointment, without regret -- see that goodnight kiss a reminder of everything they're working for.
The military families who say grace each night with an empty seat at the table. The servicemen and women who love this country so much, they leave those they love most to defend it.
The young people across America serving our communities -- teaching children, cleaning up neighborhoods, caring for the least among us each and every day.
People like Hillary Clinton, who put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, so that our daughters -- and our 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 a 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.
That is why I love this country.
And in my own life, in my own small way, I've tried to give back to this country that has given me so much. That's why I left a job at a law firm for a career in public service, working to empower young people to volunteer in their communities. Because I believe that each of us -- no matter what our age or background or walk of life -- each of us has something to contribute to the life of this nation.
It's a belief Barack shares -- a belief at the heart of his life's work.
See it's what he did all those years ago, on the streets of Chicago, setting up job training to get people back to work and afterschool programs to keep kids safe -- working block by block to help people lift up their families.
It's what he did in the Illinois Senate, moving people from welfare to jobs, passing tax cuts for hard-working families, and making sure women get equal pay for equal work.
It's what he's done in the United States Senate, fighting to ensure that the men and women who serve this country are welcomed home not just with medals and parades, but with good jobs and benefits and health care -- including mental health care.
See that's why he's running -- to end the war in Iraq responsibly, to build an economy that lifts every family, to make sure health care is available for every American, and to make sure every child in this nation has a world class education all the way from preschool to college. That's what Barack Obama will do as president of the United States of America.
He'll achieve these goals the same way he always has -- by bringing us together and reminding us how much we share and how alike we really are. You see, Barack doesn't care where you're from, or what your background is, or what party -- if any -- you belong to. That's not how he sees the world. He knows that thread that connects us -- our belief in America's promise, our commitment to our children's future. He knows that that thread is strong enough to hold us together as one nation even when we disagree.
It was strong enough to bring hope to those neighborhoods in Chicago.
It was strong enough to bring hope to the mother he met worried about her child in Iraq; hope to the man who's unemployed, but can't afford gas to find a job; hope to the student working nights to pay for her sister's health care, sleeping just a few hours a day.
And it was strong enough to bring hope to people who came out on a cold Iowa night and became the first voices in this chorus for change that has been echoed by millions of Americans from every corner of this nation.
Millions of Americans who know that Barack understands their dreams; Millions of Americans who know that Barack will fight for people like them; and that Barack will finally bring the change we need.
And in the end, And 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. 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 something he never had: the affirming embrace of a father's love.
And as I tuck that little girl in and her little sister into bed at night, You see I think about how one day, they'll have families of their own. And one day, they -- and your sons and daughters -- will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. They'll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, how this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming. How this time, in this great country -- where a girl from the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House -- that we committed ourselves, we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be.
So tonight, in honor of my father's memory and my daughters' future -- out of gratitude for those whose triumphs we mark this week, and those whose everyday sacrifices have brought us to this moment -- let us devote ourselves to finishing their work; let us work together to fulfill their hopes; and let us stand together to elect Barack Obama president of the United States of America.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America
Posted on: Tue, Aug 26 2008 9:10 AM
Posted by: Vinny Posts: 746
She truly was amazing, I had goose bumps the entire time she was speaking. Very humble in my opinion.
Stay Strong
Vinny
Posted on: Tue, Aug 26 2008 11:29 AM
Posted by: TriDog Posts: 1,897
You guys are easily entertained. Her speech was an endless string of cliquish after cliquish. There was nothing new in her speeches.
Posted on: Tue, Aug 26 2008 11:54 AM
CLIMBS UP ON HER LADDER AND DUMPS A BUCKET OF ICE WATER ON TRIDOG'S HEAD, CLIMBS DOWN AND SPRAYS SUPER GLUE ON HIM AND DUMPS 100 POUNDS OF FEATHERS ON TRIDOG. THEN GETS A WET TOWEL WINDS IT UP REALLY TIGHT AND SNAPS IT AT TRIDOG KNOCKING HIM OVER....... ONE.......TWO........THREE! SHELLEY WINS! GETS HER LADDER AND WALKS AWAY PROUDLY.
Posted on: Tue, Aug 26 2008 6:30 PM
Posted by: cudachaser Posts: 1,536
Michelle gave one impressive speech! It will probably win the election for Obama...Thanks Shelly for the highlights...I loved her speech.
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