The First Lady Speaks

Looking stunning and every bit the confident First Lady, Michelle Obama last night delivered a genuinely inspiring and electrifying speech at the open of the Democratic National Convention. A speech, which threatened to bring down twitter driving 28,000 tweets-per-minute at its peak. In less than 30 minutes she managed to cover a woman's right to choose, labor protections, equal pay, gay rights, family values and health care for the poor. You know all the things Republicans fervently oppose and unlike the First Lady wannabe from last week’s convention, in her speech she never mentioned her husband’s presidential opponent by name. She instead attacked him by implication.

In response to Clint Eastwood’s attack of the President’s use of Air Force One to travel around to speak with college undergraduates about student loans, which Clint and his audience for some reason found laughable, she told of her and President Obama fresh out of college and struggling to make student loan payments and of how they “were so young, so in love, and so in debt”. She told the story of how even though they had student loans and grants her father insisted on contributing to her and her brother’s college education even taking out loans himself when he couldn’t make payments on time because he was so proud to be sending his kids to college. Unlike last week’s testimonial from “I won’t apologize for being wealthy” Queen Ann Romney on the same subject of her and Mitt’s so-called college struggle (in spite of having a multimillion dollar safety net) the First Lady’s account came across as relatable, sincere and honest.

Michelle didn’t have to speak to Romney’s plan to cut programs for the poor, reduce taxes for his wealthy backers and to take healthcare away from 30 million Americans instead she spoke of the letters President Obama has received from real Americans struggling with credit card debt, underwater mortgages, those without healthcare and those simply stressed with how to make ends meet and of him telling her “You won't believe what these folks are going through, Michelle. It's not right.” He also told her, “Success isn’t about how much money you make, it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.” Those statements alone accomplish so much more in portraying the President as infinitely more humanistic and authentic than anything ever said by his privileged, self-entitled Republican opponent.

The First Lady spoke of dignity and decency, honesty and integrity and said “success doesn’t matter unless you earn it fair and square.” An example both she and President Obama learned from their parents as they struggled raising their respective families. In the end she said our President is the same man we elected four years ago. A man who has not forgotten where he came from and in spite of what his opponents want us to believe a man who wants to unite not divide, a man who has not forgotten promises made and she reminded us that “we can trust Barack to do what he says he is going to do, even when it’s hard, especially when it’s hard.” Folks change is never easy, it takes time.