Talking Politics

Michelle Obama did her part to jump start the Democratic National Convention this week and gave a speech on why she loved the United States and the people that live in it. The wife of Senator Barack Obama has finally revealed that she does indeed love this country. This came after her husband became one of the candidates for presidency.

She spoke proudly of people on the day and night shifts, of military families “who say grace each night with an empty seat at the table” and of young people “cleaning up neighborhoods.” She said a common thread runs through all Americans and families.

“All of us” are “driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won’t do - that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be,” she said. “That is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack’s journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope.

“And, you see, that is why I love this country.” That line brought a standing ovation. She described her upbringing in Chicago and her father Fraser’s struggle with multiple sclerosis, her closeness to her brother Craig Robinson, the basketball coach at Oregon State University who introduced her to the convention Monday, and her 16 years of marriage to Obama.

“I stand here today at the crosscurrents of … history - knowing that my piece of the American dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me,” she said. “All of them driven by the same conviction that drove my dad to get up an hour early each day to painstakingly dress himself for work. The same conviction that drives the men and women I’ve met all across this country.”