First Lady Michelle Obama Hits Campaign Trail With Soft-Sell Message

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/14/us/politics/14michelle.html

Michelle Obama burst back onto the campaign trail Wednesday, urging Democrats to help “finish what we started.” She delivered a carefully calibrated, soft-sell message intended to appeal to women and to defend her husband as an advocate for children and families.

“I come to this stuff more as a mom,” Mrs. Obama, the first lady, told an overwhelmingly female crowd at a fund-raising luncheon here for Senator Russell D. Feingold. “And when I think about the issues facing our nation, I think about what it means for my girls, and I think about what it means for the world we’re leaving for them and for all our children.”

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With Democrats suffering from an “enthusiasm gap,” Mrs. Obama, wearing a hot-pink dress and sparkling necklace, tried on Wednesday to recapture some of the frisson of the 2008 campaign. She reminded her audience of the excitement around Inauguration Day, when her husband’s approval ratings were soaring and the country was in a far more hopeful mood.

“We were energized,” Mrs. Obama said. “We were hopeful, because we knew we had a chance to change the country we love for the better. And the truth is, we have that same chance — and we have that same responsibility — today: the chance to continue the progress we’ve made, the chance to finish what we’ve started.”







The fundraiser for Feingold in Wisconsin was the first in a series of campaign stops in the coming weeks for the first lady. (Morry Gash / Associated Press / October 13, 2010)
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-michelle-obama-wisconsin-20101014,0,5709810.story