Michelle Obama filled in for Barack today, who is at the side of his ailing grandmother.
Campaigning in Ohio, Michelle touched the hearts and minds of Americans with her praise of supporters.
"We love you Michelle!" a supporter yelled out as she opened her speech.
As Barack has often said, Michelle’s story is the American dream.
Meet Michelle
When people ask Michelle Obama to describe herself, she doesn't hesitate. First and foremost, she is Malia and Sasha's mom.
But before she was a mother - or a wife, lawyer, or public servant - she was Fraser and Marian Robinson's daughter.
The Robinsons lived on the South Side of Chicago, on the top floor of a brick bungalow. Fraser was a pump operator for the Chicago water department. He was a hero to Michelle and her older brother Craig: even though he had multiple sclerosis, he hardly ever missed a day of work. Marian stayed home to raise Michelle and Craig, skillfully managing a busy household filled with love, laughter, and important life lessons. Fraser and Marian valued hard work, independence, and honesty. Today, their children point to their parents as their greatest teachers.
Michelle attended Chicago public schools, then Princeton. She studied sociology and African American studies, graduated in the class of 1985, and earned admission to Harvard Law School. When she returned to Chicago in 1988, she joined the law firm Sidley & Austin
Millions of Americans came to know Michelle a bit better through her powerful DNC speech.
But throughout this campaign, the media has failed to highlight one of Barack’s greatest assets: his wife Michelle. Some have argued a double standard is applied with regard to females who are on the national stage. Undeniably, at times, women are viewed through a superficial lens.
The media has feasted on Sarah Palin’s hairstyles, spiked high heeled shoes, designer glasses, $100,000 shopping spree, "folksy" speaking style and cutesy winks. You betcha, they have! Yet, there has been significant discussion on whether or not Sarah Palin is qualified for the second highest office of the land and what her positions on the issues are, albeit this has not been an easy task. Palin has issued contradictory statements and numerous misstatements on where her ticket stands, most of which came after her long sequestration from the press.
Yet, we’ve seen little attention given to the substantive role the next prospective First Lady may play. Granted, First Ladies do not have any Constitutional duties. The position is not equivalent to Vice President nor does it entail the same job duties, duties Sarah Palin remains confused about. Parallels can be drawn though as both Michelle Obama and Sarah Palin could become major female figures within the national landscape. Both are women who may come to represent our country, as women.
Aside from being a Presidential candidate's spouse, as a woman, Michelle Obama is certainly someone we can hold in high esteem. She is a woman who believes that it is her responsibility, to help ensure the ladder does not get pulled up behind her. As someone who has overcome many obstacles and achieved success, Michelle's committment to to advocate for all women, our daughters and our future granddaughters, is rooted in her own personal experiences.
We can trust, her husband Barack will do the same. If he even were to appear to be losing sight of the importance of women’s rights, we can rest assured, Michelle will keep him in line. She is one of us, a women’s woman.
All of our great Democratic women who have spoken out for us throughout this campaign deserve a big shout out: Michelle Obama, Jill Biden, Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Edwards, Claire McCaskill, Debbie Wassermanman Shultz, Donna Brazille and so many more.