First Lady Michelle Obama Says President Is 'The Man We Can Trust' At DNC
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (CBSNewYork) -- Michelle Obama spoke Tuesday night at the Democratic National with the message that President Barack Obama would move the country forward.
It was a personal and passionate speech -- the kind only a wife could give. The First Lady set forth to try and convince America that her husband deserves another term and was "the man we can trust."
"I love that we can trust Barack to do what he says he's going to do, even when its hard - especially when its hard," Obama said.
Michelle Obama is the person who knows Barack Obama best and shared that with America.
"I see the concern in his eyes and 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,'" she said, recounting conversations with her husband.
She also talked about how President Obama approached the issue of health care reform, which she said her husband was discouraged from pursuing.
"He didn't care whether it was the easy thing to do politically -- that's not how he was raised -- he cared that it was the right thing to do," she said. "He did it because he believes that here in America, our grandparents should be able to afford their medicine. Our kids should be able to see a doctor when they're sick and no one in this country should ever go broke because of an accident or illness."
The First Lady used her rock star status to carry out her assignment to speak about the values and experiences that drive her husband and make him the man she wants to lead the country.
"Barack knows the American Dream because he's lived it, and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are, or where were from, or what we look like, or who we love," Obama said.
And not incidentally, to play into the gender gap that currently exists in campaign 2012, more women like her husband than Republican Mitt Romney.
"He believes that women are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies and our health care -- that's what my husband stands for," Michelle Obama said.
San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro gave the keynote speech, touching on the Democratic theme of the convention -- that Presidnt Obama is the man to shore up the sagging middle class.
"Republicans tell us that if the most prosperous among us do even better, that somehow the rest of us will too. Folks we've heard that before," Castro said.
It was another mayor, Newark's Cory Booker -- who got a standing ovation -- even though he had trouble standing having injured his ankle on his way to an event this morning.
"Being asked to pay your fare share in taxes is not class warfare, it's patriotism," Booker said to applause.
President Obama watched his wife from the White House with the couple's two daughters. He is expected to arrive in Charlotte on Wednesday.
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