Posted on 02/18/2008 5:26:33 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
In seeking voters for her husband in Tuesday's presidential primary, Michelle Obama spoke with heartfelt empathy to the millions for whom the American Dream has been elusive.
"There's a bar that's shifting and moving," Obama told a crowd of about 800 at the Overture Center's Capitol Theater this afternoon. "Most Americans can't catch the bar."
And when people can't catch the bar, Obama said, they get tired, cynical and fearful and they pass those frustrations on to the next generation.
"I'm here because I don't want that for my girls," said Obama, who has two young daughters with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama. "We should be in a position in 2008 where our children … should be able to imagine any kind of future for themselves… and know they have the resources of an entire country behind them. That's what I want for my kids. We're not there yet."
Obama, who is 44, said things were different when she grew up. She spoke of her father, a city worker, who was able to raise a family of four on a "single city salary."
"My mother stayed at home because you could back then," added Obama.
She said her father was a hard worker who never complained. "Most folks are like my dad. They don't want much." What they do want, she said, is to know that if they work hard they will have something to show for it, that they won't go bankrupt if they get sick and, that "after a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice they can retire with some respect and dignity."
But, she said, most Americans are not earning enough to keep up and they feel like they're failing.
Obama's talk came just a few hours before her husband's rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton, was scheduled to speak at the Monona Terrace Convention Center. The two and their supporters have appeared at numerous places around the state in the past week leading up to Tuesday's vote.
During today's speech, Michelle Obama criticized the Bush administration's "No Child Left Behind" program which she said is "strangling the life out of most schools."
"If my future were determined by my performance on a standardized test I wouldn't be here," she said. "I guarantee that."
Obama touted the public school education she and her brother received while growing up in Chicago.
"I do want people to know that when they look at me they don't see the next First Lady. They see what an investment in public education can look like."
Obama is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School.
She talked about the student loan debt that she and her husband, who is also a Harvard Law graduate, amassed before being able to pay them off with the proceeds of his two bestselling books.
"We're just three years outside of paying off our student loans," she said. "Can you imagine a president of the United States that has just paid off his student loans?" she asked to laughter.
After Obama's talk, Cecilia Schiek said she was particularly pleased that Obama "touched the subjects that are particularly pertinent to the middle class."
Schiek, an educational assistant at Lindbergh Elementary School, said she tries to instill the type of hope in her students that Obama is talking about.
"When teaching them I say if 'you learn how to read you can do anything," Schiek said, adding that it is important for kids to have that kind of hope offered to them. "I didn't have that in my life and I'd love to see that for every kid."
Obama said her husband has defied the naysayers who said he could not compete with the "the political might of a political dynasty." And she noted he has been very successful in raising money from "regular folks."
She said Barack likes to say that a contribution of "$23 is just as important as $2,300 if you vote."
Obama acknowledged that her speech was short on such specifics as environmental and health care policy, but said such details, while important, are secondary to leadership.
"Barack knows that at some level there's a hole in our souls and we need some inspiration," she said. "That's why I'm here because I know Barack is different."
She also disputed critics who say Barack is not tough enough to battle it out with the eventual Republican candidate.
"We live in Chicago. Illinois politics. Some of the toughest, meanest politics in our nation." Added Obama: It's an honor that we hold dear."
> “We’re just three years outside of paying off our
> student loans,” she said. “Can you imagine a president
> of the United States that has just paid off his
> student loans?” she asked to laughter.
Had he got a proper job instead of messing around building his ‘community activist’ resume for his long-planned presidental bid, he might have paid them off a darn sight sooner...
Sarge,
To really appreceate you have to actually hear the audio ~ it is so over the top!
Hugh Hewitt does a nice job of breaking it down:
“So now what, are we swapping the word “Barack” for the word “God”?”
All hail the all-knowing and powerful Barack,...
Barack help me to get a gubmint job,...
All kneel before Barack,...
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