Michelle Obama’s Two Americas

Image by Getty Imagesvia Daylife

Byron York has an interesting article contrasting Michelle’s speech last night with a speech she gave in Charlote last may.  It seems that last night was a more upbeat, dare I say patriotic, speech:

In Denver, Michelle Obama described America as a place of hope, a place where people find success during the course of “improbable journeys.” In Charlotte, her America was a dark and ugly place, where people who work hard are knocked down by sinister forces — a place where even young children burst into tears when they realize the deck is stacked against them.

In Denver, Mrs. Obama said, “My piece of the American Dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me.” Those forebears, she explained, were “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…That’s why I love this country.”

In Charlotte, Mrs. Obama said, “We’re still living in a time and in a nation where the bar is set, right?…You start working hard and sacrificing and you think you’re getting close to that bar, you’re working and you’re struggling, and then what happens? They raise the bar…keep it just out of reach.”

York gets to the heart of why that speech had to be different:

In May, the Pew Research Center found that 22 percent of people polled had an unfavorable opinion of Mrs. Obama. In July, an Associated Press poll showed that she had a 35 percent unfavorable rating — versus a 30 percent favorable figure. A couple of weeks ago, a the Rasmussen polling organization found that 43 percent of voters had an unfavorable impression of Mrs. Obama. (Of them, Rasmussen said, 24 percent said they had a very unfavorable view of her.)

[. . .]

So here in Denver Mrs. Obama had a job to do. It wasn’t just to introduce Americans to the Obama family or show another side of her husband’s personality. It was to rehabilitate herself, to take the edge of anger and resentment from her public pronouncements and embrace a wholesome, country-loving, American-Dream-living image. And that’s what her speech at the convention was about.

The question I had last night was how many were watching?  Those that watched I am sure came away with a pleasant perception of Michelle and the Obama family.  Sure, it was a little saccharine and a full of boilerplate uplifting language.  And I thought it got a little too much like a stump speech towards the end.  But she came across as a caring and passionate spouse who believes in her husband.  Unless you had a cemented opinion of her I think she accomplished her mission.