Democratic Party Convention 2012
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First Lady: Obama's work is personal, not political
/ AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
(CBS News) CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- On the opening night of the Democratic National Convention, First Lady Michelle Obama shared the intimate stories of her life with her husband, President Barack Obama, to convince voters that his work as president is motivated by personal convictions, not by politics.
"Today, after so many struggles and triumphs and moments that have tested my husband in ways I never could have imagined, I have seen firsthand that being president doesn't change who you are - it reveals who you are," Mrs. Obama said. "I've seen how the issues that come across a president's desk are always the hard ones... But at the end of the day, when it comes time to make that decision, as president, all you have to guide you are your values, and your vision, and the life experiences that make you who you are."
The first lady recounted Mr. Obama's modest beginnings in Hawaii, where his grandmother worked to support him. She also shared her own background, growing up middle class in Chicago, where her father struggled with Multiple Sclerosis (a disease that also happens to plague Mitt Romney's wife Ann Romney). Mrs. Obama recalled her first dates with Mr. Obama, when he was so poor that his "only pair of decent shoes was half a size too small."
And Mrs. Obama recounted the first years of their marriage when, after years of bills for their higher education piled up, she said, "We were so young, so in love, and so in debt."
The first lady told the audience of Democratic delegates that, four years ago, she was afraid that her husband would change in office. Instead, she learned that his work was driven by that personal history.
"He's the same man who started his career by turning down high paying jobs and instead working in struggling neighborhoods where a steel plant had shut down, fighting to rebuild those communities and get folks back to work," she said, "because for Barack, success isn't about how much money you make, it's about the difference you make in people's lives."
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The first lady made no mention of Mr. Obama's GOP rival Mitt Romney, but her characterization of her husband as a man who put his ideals before material success sets up a contrast with the former corporate CEO, whom the Obama campaign is attempting to cast as a heartless businessman. With a struggling economy weighing down Mr. Obama's re-election chances, the president will have to appeal to voters as a politicians who empathizes with their problems, even if he hasn't fixed them all quite yet.
"Barack knows what it means when a family struggles," she said. "He knows what it means to want something more for your kids and grandkids."
Because of his own family's hopes and challenges, the president reads with concern letters from struggling Americans, Mrs. Obama said. "I hear the determination in his voice as he tells me, 'You won't believe what these folks are going through, Michelle...it's not right. We've got to keep working to fix this. We've got so much more to do.'"
Mrs. Obama also spoke of her own experiences hearing Americans' stories as she traveled across the country. "I have seen the very best of the American spirit," she said. "I've seen it in teachers in a near-bankrupt school district who vowed to keep teaching without pay... I've seen it in our men and women in uniform and our proud military families. In wounded warriors who tell me they're not just going to walk again, they're going to run, and they're going to run marathons."
As first lady, Michelle Obama spearheaded initiatives to help veterans and their families. Ahead of her speech, her brother Craig Robinson took the stage with Mr. Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, and touted her accomplishments.
"Four years ago, I told you how, when she was a young girl, Michelle used to talk to me about which kids at school were having a tough time at home and didn't have anybody to stick up for them," Robinson said. "And what inspired her most as she traveled this country on that campaign were the stories of brave Americans who juggle everything at home while their husbands or wives are off at war."
Robinson and Soetoro-Ng reiterated Mrs. Obama's assertion that the Obamas' beliefs are rooted in strong values.
"But no matter how different we may seem," Robinson said, "we share a set of values our parents gave us--values the same in Chicago as they are in Honolulu: a willingness to work hard, a commitment to education and the responsibility to look out for each other."
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by Millennial September 5, 2012 2:23 PM EDT
Mrs. Obama, she's a BEAUTIFUL first lady of these united states, intelligent, articulate, physically fit, sexy, an excellent example for mothers, a great inspiration to ALL women.
She must really **** off conservatives who don't like women or blacks or people who are smart. Let alone all three.
If I was Robbed Me I would not be bragging about the race-to-the-bottom jobs that Bain (or is it Bane) created. Staples? Outback Steakhouse? Really? Next he'll be bragging about McDonalds or Wal Mart.
One's spent his life trying to help people, the other has spent his life laying people off and taking the money and stashing it in offshore accounts.
I'll stick with the American, thank you! OBAMA/BIDEN 2012 : )
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Maybe you should educate yourself with the South side of Chicago and what President Obama has done for the people there and how he has helped that community as a representative of that state and district?
Murder capital of the USA....bar none.
Then educate yourself on how many jobs Bain Capital has created, the truth and not some talking points repeated by sheep.
Start with Staples and what is was and what it is now, it is only one example of many.
The person from Brain that shipped jobs overseas is actually a major Obama campaign bundler.
You would give your life savings over to someone without ANY business experience? If so, you must be one of the people that sunk the housing market and borrowed to much money that could never possibly be paid back.
Liberal as to waste, as to be liberal with money, with debt, with morality. Conservative, as to conserve, to save, to build and succeed.
So Empire, why do the conservatives spend like drunken sailors when they have the Presidency? Like Bush. And if they want to CONSERVE why do they want to radically change America by getting rid of the social safety net we have had for 80 years?
But you are a marxist at heart, and believe in a strong central government dictating their power over the weak states.....I just happen to believe in the complete opposite.
As opposed to conservative. I guess conservative means you conserve your brain cells from having to use them up. The little amount there is to begin with.
Conservative, as to conserve, to save, to build and succeed.
Conservative is closed minded, keep everything the same, never change, grow or improve, keep all the money in the same Old-Money families...
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Yes she is! : )
George how on earth will you make it past November? LOL
Chevy Dolt: "Don't examine Willard Romney. Look, a flock of geese."
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Like almost all American's, many life savings are tied up in SS and Medicare.
If anyone would be honest, and we were forced to invest our life savings with either President Obama or Gov. Romney and we examine the life of both Romney's and Obama's financial history, investment returns and business leadership skills, anybody with any brains at all would invest with Gov. Romney.
President Obama has no business leadership skills
President Obama has never been trusted in the past to invest private equity with anyone that was voluntary.
Name one person that has given money to President Obama voluntary to invest in a private business?
Would you give your life savings to someone with no experience or with someone that has a PROVEN track record of success?
I'll stick with the American, thank you! OBAMA/BIDEN 2012 : )
george - You seem to spend a lot of time worrying about how others
look.
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at the risk of you being called a hypocrite, wasn't Christie's weight the subject of your comments for half-a-day, following his speech ??? so who's worrying about how others look, you libs are.
The difference between the failed "free" market elitist Republicon Party of rich white men and the Democrats who want the 99% to succeed is stark. I have no idea how we got pushed so far to the right side toward so much greed and avarice and racism.
This is NOT what America is about, never was and never will be. I only pray we can all help wake up enough people to get involved to finally purge America of the right wing plague.
Free markets are for free individuals to fulfill the American Dreams.
America has always been and will always be a center right nation that relies on self governance and individual freedom vs the central planners and government tyrants and government control over our everyday lives.
Are we better off?
Mitt Romney told Fox's Laura Ingraham,
"IT'S GETTING BETTER"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMj8KkO23xU
Obama 2012