Former US first lady Michelle Obama delivered a trademark barnburner at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night ― a determined speech that focused on getting Americans involved in politics, rather than political personalities or policy details.
“Something wonderfully magical is in the air,” Obama said, speaking of “the contagious power of hope” and “the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day.”
Obama, who was America’s first Black first lady as the wife of the first Black president, Barack Obama, noted that the country could once again make history if it gives the presidency to Kamala Harris — who would be the first female president — come November. But she warned the rallied Democrats against taking that prospect for granted, leading DNC attendees in increasingly loud chants of “DO SOMETHING!”
“Let us not forget what we are up against. Remember there are still so many people who are desperate for a different outcome,” Obama said, referencing possibilities like some voters being unwilling to vote for America’s first female president.
Over the course of a 20-something minute speech, Obama brought a fiery energy to the stage, alternately reminding people of how much hope was ahead of them ― and how much work.
“No matter how good we feel tonight or tomorrow or the next day, this is going to be an uphill battle,” she continued. Democrats, she said, should anticipate moments where polls suggest Harris is behind Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, and noting that Harris and her vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, cannot be expected to be perfect as they campaign.
“We cannot get a Goldilocks complex about whether everything is just right,” Obama said. “We cannot indulge our anxieties about whether this country will elect someone like Kamala instead of doing everything we can to get someone like Kamala elected.”
As the penultimate speaker on the convention’s second day, she described Harris as “living a life of service,” and drew parallels between the Democratic candidate’s life and her own. Though Obama’s mother was from Chicago and Harris’ from India, Obama noted, both “shared the same belief in the promise of this country.”
She made only one reference to Trump by name, but extensively contrasted his life ― as the son of a wealthy businessman with a penchant for bending the laws to his advantage, with that of people like Harris, her husband and herself.
Most Americans don’t have “the affirmative action of generational wealth,” Obama said.
And she took some subtle digs at Trump as well: “If we see a mountain in front of us, we don’t expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top,” she said, in apparent reference to Trump’s 2015 campaign announcement, when he descended on a golden Trump Tower escalator to speak to reporters.
Attendees grew increasingly excited throughout her speech, with many cheering “Yes!” after particularly compelling lines. “This girl is on fire!” one older Black woman in the crowd exclaimed.
After praising Harris ― suggesting her candidacy means “hope is making a comeback” ― she repeatedly warned against allowing her rival to win, given his penchant for attacks on individuals and particular communities. She particularly called out Trump’s year of insults and aspersions against her husband and herself because, she said, he could not tolerate seeing their success.
“Going small is petty. It’s unhealthy. And, quite frankly, it’s unpresidential,” Obama said. “Why would we normalise that type of backward leadership?”