The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Democrats gush over keynote by Michelle Obama
Georgians were poised to swipe a share of the national spotlight Tuesday when Stacey Abrams and state Rep. Sam Park joined an ensemble cast for the keynote on the second day of the Democratic National Convention. But at the state delegation’s breakfast, the focus was on Monday’s kickoff.
The virtual gathering featured a diverse and unlikely coalition rallying behind Joe Biden’s campaign: liberal Democrats led by Bernie Sanders, a quartet of moderate Republicans, Biden’s top rivals for the party’s nomination, everyday Americans suffering from the pandemic and the economic fallout.
And it was capped by Michelle Obama, who delivered a forceful indictment of President Donald Trump’s agenda with an unsparing showcase speech.
“Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head,” Obama said. “He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.”
Her address was the talk of the delegation Tuesday, as was the picture of state
Sen. Gloria Butler cheering Obama that graced coverage of the speech in The New York Times.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who arrived on the Zoom call a smidge late Tuesday after helping her kids log on to virtual learning, said she couldn’t stop replaying Obama’s speech in her mind.
“I want to bed dreaming about Michelle Obama. Literally,” she quipped. “Then I threw in Barack just for support. He made a cameo appearance.”
Bottoms will deliver her own prime-time speech Thursday, shortly before Biden accepts the nomination. She told fellow Democratic delegates that it’s up to them to help Biden rack up such a commanding lead that Trump can’t cast doubt about the integrity of the vote.
“All eyes are literally on Georgia,” she said. “We’re not going to let this country down.”
One of the guests at the breakfast was U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, one of Biden’s 2020 Democratic rivals featured on the convention’s first day.
“You saw a party united last night,” Klobuchar told the assembled Georgians, adding: “In a state like yours, we’re going to have to bring in independents and moderate Republicans as well as getting our turnout as strong as it can.”