President Barack Obama might be a gifted orator, but his wife, First Lady Michelle is definitely no slouch in that department either.
On Tuesday, Sept. 4 in Charlotte, N.C., Michelle Obama delivered the closing speech at the Democratic National Convention. And while Ann Romney‘s speech at the RNC was said to humanize her husband Mitt, Michelle’s speech did far more humanization.
As Michelle regaled the crowd with stories of her and Barack’s early days of romance, she kept it really real. “I remember Barack had a car that was so rusted that I could see the concrete through a hole in the passenger side,” Michelle said.
She also spoke about her own humble family life. One in which her father, afflicted with multiple sclerosis, prided himself on paying a portion of his children’s college tuition bill.
But despite her father’s valiant efforts, Michelle and her eventual husband, graduated college with a mountain of debt. “We were so young, so in love and so in debt,” Michelle said with a laugh. “When we first married, our combined student loan bill was higher than our mortgage.”
In a move that showed vulnerability, Michelle admitted that she had real fears and doubts about her husband running for president back in 2008.
She had grown quite comfortable with her family routine and way of life in Chicago, and she feared that the national spotlight would corrupt her husband and taint her daughters’ innocence.
But after four years in the White House, Michelle has now come to the conclusion that, “Being president doesn’t change who you are, it reveals who you are.”
You tell ’em, Mich.
After hitting that home run, Michelle pretty much walked the rest of the bases as she touched on healthcare reform (“No one in this country should go broke because of an illness or an accident.”) and wealth (“Success isn’t about how much money you make, it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.”).
In closing, Michelle made the case that her husband is the man for the job not because he’s the best politician, but because he takes the issues that every American struggles with personally.
“Barack knows the American dream because he’s lived it,” Michelle said. “These issues aren’t political [for him], they’re personal.”
Mr. Mitt Romney, consider your wig snatched.
By the time Michelle was done with that convention hall in Charlotte, it was looking more like a church service than a political convention. Michelle had so many of the folks in that audience catching the holy Obama spirit.
Is it too early to start putting Michelle Obama 2016 out there? Just wondering.
Watch the speech in its entirety below:
