NEED UNITY, PATRIOTISM, HOPE? CALL MICHELLE OBAMA
People will be talking about Michelle Obama’s speech on the first night of the Democratic National Convention for a long, long time.
In fact, Steve Schmidt, a Republican strategist, on MSNBC said: “Michelle Obama’s speech tonight was so brilliant we might hear it again at the next Republican convention.”
But wry smiles and a wink to Melania Trump’s borrowed words from Mrs. Obama’s 2008 convention speech aside, the first lady’s heartfelt and heart-thumping words about the America everyone loves and wants could not have been more perfect for the day — or for our time.
The speech — one of support for Hillary Clinton — was spot on for the day because it unified a convention hall that had been punctuated with applause one minute and boos the next as Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters continued to circle each other warily.
Yet as Michelle Obama began to talk about what each village and our country needs for children — hers and ours — the divide began to melt away, and the common goals we all share — no matter who might be our candidate — gleamed on the horizon like a golden sunrise.
“[Being] president is about one thing and one thing only — it’s about leaving something better for our kids. That’s how we’ve always moved this country forward — by all of us coming together on behalf of our children. Folks who volunteer to coach that team, to teach that Sunday school class because they know it takes a village. Heroes of every color and creed who wear the uniform and risk their lives to keep passing down those blessings of liberty. Police officers and protesters in Dallas who all desperately want to keep our children safe. People who lined up in Orlando to donate blood because it could have been their son, their daughter in that club.”
It was a speech perfect for our time because the first lady galvanized us to remember — with patriotism — that even in disagreements we are unified in accomplishment and strong in nation building even as we are different, because America is great, right now. There’s no need for us to be great again.
Looking directly into the audience, the first lady’s words and conviction made listeners’ chests swell: “Because this, right now, is the greatest country on earth.”
She threw some barbs but never sunk to the depths we know as “politics.”
“When I think about the kind of president that I want for my girls and all our children … I want someone with the proven strength to persevere. Someone who knows this job and takes it seriously. Someone who understands that the issues a president faces are not black and white and cannot be boiled down to 140 characters. Because when you have the nuclear codes at your fingertips and the military in your command, you can’t make snap decisions. You can’t have a thin skin or a tendency to lash out. You need to be steady, and measured, and well-informed.”
Mostly our first lady threw garlands of hope — hope that we don’t become so weary of fear and hate that we forget who and what we really are: America.