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Barack Obama is a prime example of a man who succeeds despite injustice and unfairness, his wife said Friday, and he would be a president who would fight to eliminate some of the struggles of hard-working families.
A crowd of nearly 500 cheered, applauded and called out to Michelle Obama as she spoke for more than an hour about her husband, his hopes, his history and his sense of responsibility.
“We were taught that you treat other people with decency and respect, even if you don't know them and even if you don't always agree with them. One of the reasons why Barack isn't into this slash-and-burn politics is not because he's not tough but because we were taught you never know when you're going to need somebody,” she said.
It brought the crowd to its feet, one of four times during Obama's speech that the audience of students, retirees, families and fans rose to show its agreement.
Barack Obama is locked in a tight race with Hillary Rodham Clinton for Indiana's 72 delegates. Neither candidate has amassed enough delegates to seal the Democratic nomination.
“Indiana matters,” Michelle Obama told the crowd, and she asked them to vote early and to volunteer to talk to people who haven't yet made up their minds.
But many in the audience needed no convincing about what to do when they vote May 6.
“We are an Obama family,” said Holly Harrington of Waterloo. She and her husband registered to vote for the first time just so they could vote for Obama.
Eileen Lee said it was a tough decision for her, as an older woman, to decide not to vote for Clinton.
“Obama's ideas on change speak to me. I don't know whether he'll be able to make it happen, but that's what he's interested in doing. So I have to go in that direction,” she said.
Change – the theme of the Obama campaign – was also the theme of his wife's speech.
“We should be in a point in time right now when every child in this nation, regardless of their race or their gender or their parents' political party or their station in life or their region, they should be able to dream huge dreams for themselves,” Michelle Obama said.
“We should be there by now.”
But she said the bar is ever-changing, and she said her husband's battle in the Democratic campaign shows that.
She said the powers that be initially said that test of whether Obama could be taken seriously was raising enough money. But when he did, she said, the test became whether he could put together a campaign organization. When he did that, she said, the test became whether he could win Iowa. When he did that, she said, the test was re-defined as winning big states. He did that, she said, but then the Clinton campaign said the real test was South Carolina. But when Obama won there, she said, “It didn't count because Barack was supposed to win South Carolina.”
Michelle Obama said her husband's experience with the bar being constantly changed is “exactly what's been happening to the American people for a long time.”
She said people who work hard all their lives ought to be able to put their feet up in retirement, but they can't because they can't afford health care or their pensions dry up. She said kids who work hard and get good grades in school ought to be able to go to college, but often they can't because it's too expensive.
“People are struggling to try to reach that bar,” she said. “They're finding the bar seems to be getting further and further away.”
She said that experience can make people cynical, “but Barack has been asking us this whole election to look at ourselves differently. Inspiration and hope is all a huge part of that.''
“We've lost sight of the fact that we are one another's brothers' and sisters' keepers in this nation. We have to prepare to sacrifice something big for the greater good. In order to do that, you have to feel some faith and trust and inspiration in our leadership. I don't think there's anyone else in this race who's going to be able to unify this country, who's going to be able to change the way politics is done, who's going to bring people together who never thought they had anything common before and who's going to do it in a way that's decent and honest. That man is my husband, Barack Obama.”
That sense of unity was appealing to Reggie Pearson, pastor of Restoration Christian Worship Center, and his wife, Sue.
“I believe that's the way the country is going – everybody together in unity. That's one of the things I like about Obama. He wants to bring us all together,” he said. “I just think he's a better candidate to include everybody, not because of his race or color. His message of ‘everybody is one.'”
sylviasmith@jg.net
