WP: Michelle Obama's Heart is in the Race

[Colobo]

She might be standing in a back yard in Waterloo or on a stage in Harlem, but as she carries the audience along from phrase to well-turned phrase, she makes clear that "this running for president thing," as she calls it, has become nearly as much her quest as her husband's. "I will be very disappointed if we don't get this right," she says after a campaign stop. "As a country, we can't afford to miss again. We can't."

During an intensely challenging stretch of a campaign that has shown more promise than momentum, Obama is increasing her political workload, interrupting her own career as a $275,000-a-year hospital executive. Today she was scheduled to make the rounds here in Ottumwa, Centerville, Corydon, Lamoni and Indianola. She had doubts about the wisdom of the Oval Office bid, fearing what it would mean for the family, especially their two young daughters, but now that she's in, she's in all the way.

"The selfish part of me says, 'Run away! Just say no!' because my life would be better," she says in a quiet moment after another campaign event. "But that's the problem we face as a society, we have to stop making the me decision and we have to make the we and us decision."

More at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

[BeyondGeography]

1. He married well

What a couple.

[AtomicKitten]

2. What a great family.

[snowbear]

8. What beautiful pictures!

~~~~~~

[sandnsea]

3. She would be a stupendous first lady

So many young adults need to feel like someone is in their corner. I'm 50 and I think I'm starting to get the point that the boomers have had the stage long enough. Other people think differently than we do, and I'm not so sure we're doinga good job of listening and respecting new ideas. The Obamas can provide adult leadership, and reach to the next generation. I think that's what we need right now.

[mahina]

5. Your lips

to God's ears.

[ellisonz]

12. Pono

like poi!

[tammywammy]

4. What a good article

Recommended

[BeyondGeography]

6. "We can do something special."

==A sequence of decisions stretching back nearly 20 years led to moments like the one in Iowa Falls, where she says, "I've felt so disconnected from my government for so long. . . . We need a leader who can touch our souls." And the one in Fort Dodge, where she tells an audience, "We need someone who understands and respects the Constitution, particularly as we have seen it obliterated."

And the scene in a library in rural Rockwell City, where Obama tells a hard-to-read audience of her husband's early opposition to the Iraq war, his success at ethics reform, his health-care work, his willingness to level with people. She says the United States is in Iraq because leaders "were not willing to tell us the truth," and she urges her listeners to imagine a president who has worked in church basements and walked picket lines.

"Just dream," she says as she finishes. "If you reach into your hearts and act without fear, we can do something special."

The hitherto silent group delivers a standing ovation.

"I guarantee you," she declares with a grin, "if I could talk to everybody in this state, they would vote for Barack Obama. I'm pretty convincing."==

[jaysunb]

7. This, is the kind of thinking the DLCer's hate.

"But that's the problem we face as a society, we have to stop making the me decision and we have to make the we and us decision."

[BenDavid]

9. Oh yes very informative, and I bet she will have something

to say about why the Black Ministers Of South Carolina endorsed HRC Tuesday. Maybe she will tell them all they know not what they do because obama is a black man and you are black and need to vote for him.....If I were black I would be insulted for someone to tell me I had not the sense to decide on whom I should vote for as president.

Enough of this went on in the south when a qualified black ran for office against a white man. Majority Whites voted for the white man knowing full well the black man was more qualified for the elective office.

Ben David

[ClarkUSA]

10. Barack Obama made the best decision of his life when he married Michelle Richardson

His second best decision was opposing the Iraq war from the beginning. I supported Wes Clark for the same reason in 2004.

At least I'm consistent.

[saracat]

11. Gorgeous couple! and wonderful kids.I like Obama!

[ellisonz]

13. This woman has soul!

[Olney Blue]

14. Great article to read this morning with my coffee. She's amazing.

[Colobo]

15. Kicking for Our Next First Lady!