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First Lady Michelle Obama received rave reviews from progressive political commentators after her speech Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.
* * *
Kevin Drum writing at Mother Jones:
The whole point of the speech: to convince disappointed Obama fans that her husband was worth getting off their butts and working for again. Change is hard. It happens one small step at a time. We're playing a long game and you should be ashamed of yourself if you feel like quitting just because Barack hasn't won every battle. Now get out there and vote. The rest of the speech was extremely well crafted and Michelle Obama delivered it like a pro. It hit all the right notes.
* * *
Ruth Conniff writing at The Progressive:
Michelle's fantastic speech drew a stark, though unstated, contrast with the Romneys. The image of Barack picking her up for a date in his rusted-out car, of her hard-working parents, who filled their tiny house with laughter when she and her brother were kids, blew the Republicans out of the water.
* * *
Gary Younge writing in The Guardian:
Charged with rekindling the spark of four years ago was first lady Michelle Obama. Unlike Ann Romney last week her task was not to humanise her husband. His life is literally an open, bestselling book - and people generally like what they know. Instead she was charged with reminding them of not so much why she fell in love with him, but why they did. In a moving speech, punctuated by applause and calls for four more years that brought the crowd to their feet, she evoked the social movements of yore from abolitionists to suffragettes with a nod to gay marriage equality. Her insistence that "we're playing a long game here" was a plea over the heads of the convention for more time and more patience.
* * *
Ilyse Hogue writing at The Nation:
Michelle Obama's singular mission last night was to convince Americans that she and the President deeply understand the real challenges facing Americans today, and she aced it. With a relaxed grace that wowed the convention hall, she spoke in personal terms of a common American experience and voiced a deep belief that shared connection allows her husband to fight for all of us, but especially the women. Against a backdrop of the GOP assault on women's right and an economic recession disproportionately affecting women, her words offered a handhold for the slipping hope that ran rampant just four years ago.
* * *
Lynn Parramore writing at AlterNet:
The First Lady struck a distinctly populist chord in her speech, reminding listeners than she and her husband have known what it's like to struggle to pay off debt and, in her husband's case, afford a nice pair of shoes of the correct size to wear on a date. That message. drawing sharp contrast to the gold-plated Romneys, was appreciated in a state where the poverty rate and unemployment numbers are worse than the national average. Fully connected to the crowd, Michelle Obama had to pause a time or two for standing ovations and extended cheers. Reporters dropped their cynical expressions. Some people cried. Suddenly the lights had come on in Charlotte.
* * *
Harold Meyerson writing at The American Prospect:
Michelle Obama's speech was the single most successful speech to a national political convention since--well, since a U.S. Senate candidate just on the cusp of fame delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston. Her voice was stunning; she spoke with a timbre of deep emotion held in check by an equally apparent discipline. She's clearly so schooled herself in public speaking that we can acclaim her as a natural. And she delivered many of the things Ann Romney didn't in her own testament to her husband--notably, some genuine anecdotes about the man in her life.
* * *
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First Lady Michelle Obama received rave reviews from progressive political commentators after her speech Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.
* * *
Kevin Drum writing at Mother Jones:
The whole point of the speech: to convince disappointed Obama fans that her husband was worth getting off their butts and working for again. Change is hard. It happens one small step at a time. We're playing a long game and you should be ashamed of yourself if you feel like quitting just because Barack hasn't won every battle. Now get out there and vote. The rest of the speech was extremely well crafted and Michelle Obama delivered it like a pro. It hit all the right notes.
* * *
Ruth Conniff writing at The Progressive:
Michelle's fantastic speech drew a stark, though unstated, contrast with the Romneys. The image of Barack picking her up for a date in his rusted-out car, of her hard-working parents, who filled their tiny house with laughter when she and her brother were kids, blew the Republicans out of the water.
* * *
Gary Younge writing in The Guardian:
Charged with rekindling the spark of four years ago was first lady Michelle Obama. Unlike Ann Romney last week her task was not to humanise her husband. His life is literally an open, bestselling book - and people generally like what they know. Instead she was charged with reminding them of not so much why she fell in love with him, but why they did. In a moving speech, punctuated by applause and calls for four more years that brought the crowd to their feet, she evoked the social movements of yore from abolitionists to suffragettes with a nod to gay marriage equality. Her insistence that "we're playing a long game here" was a plea over the heads of the convention for more time and more patience.
* * *
Ilyse Hogue writing at The Nation:
Michelle Obama's singular mission last night was to convince Americans that she and the President deeply understand the real challenges facing Americans today, and she aced it. With a relaxed grace that wowed the convention hall, she spoke in personal terms of a common American experience and voiced a deep belief that shared connection allows her husband to fight for all of us, but especially the women. Against a backdrop of the GOP assault on women's right and an economic recession disproportionately affecting women, her words offered a handhold for the slipping hope that ran rampant just four years ago.
* * *
Lynn Parramore writing at AlterNet:
The First Lady struck a distinctly populist chord in her speech, reminding listeners than she and her husband have known what it's like to struggle to pay off debt and, in her husband's case, afford a nice pair of shoes of the correct size to wear on a date. That message. drawing sharp contrast to the gold-plated Romneys, was appreciated in a state where the poverty rate and unemployment numbers are worse than the national average. Fully connected to the crowd, Michelle Obama had to pause a time or two for standing ovations and extended cheers. Reporters dropped their cynical expressions. Some people cried. Suddenly the lights had come on in Charlotte.
* * *
Harold Meyerson writing at The American Prospect:
Michelle Obama's speech was the single most successful speech to a national political convention since--well, since a U.S. Senate candidate just on the cusp of fame delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston. Her voice was stunning; she spoke with a timbre of deep emotion held in check by an equally apparent discipline. She's clearly so schooled herself in public speaking that we can acclaim her as a natural. And she delivered many of the things Ann Romney didn't in her own testament to her husband--notably, some genuine anecdotes about the man in her life.
* * *
# # #
First Lady Michelle Obama received rave reviews from progressive political commentators after her speech Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.
* * *
Kevin Drum writing at Mother Jones:
The whole point of the speech: to convince disappointed Obama fans that her husband was worth getting off their butts and working for again. Change is hard. It happens one small step at a time. We're playing a long game and you should be ashamed of yourself if you feel like quitting just because Barack hasn't won every battle. Now get out there and vote. The rest of the speech was extremely well crafted and Michelle Obama delivered it like a pro. It hit all the right notes.
* * *
Ruth Conniff writing at The Progressive:
Michelle's fantastic speech drew a stark, though unstated, contrast with the Romneys. The image of Barack picking her up for a date in his rusted-out car, of her hard-working parents, who filled their tiny house with laughter when she and her brother were kids, blew the Republicans out of the water.
* * *
Gary Younge writing in The Guardian:
Charged with rekindling the spark of four years ago was first lady Michelle Obama. Unlike Ann Romney last week her task was not to humanise her husband. His life is literally an open, bestselling book - and people generally like what they know. Instead she was charged with reminding them of not so much why she fell in love with him, but why they did. In a moving speech, punctuated by applause and calls for four more years that brought the crowd to their feet, she evoked the social movements of yore from abolitionists to suffragettes with a nod to gay marriage equality. Her insistence that "we're playing a long game here" was a plea over the heads of the convention for more time and more patience.
* * *
Ilyse Hogue writing at The Nation:
Michelle Obama's singular mission last night was to convince Americans that she and the President deeply understand the real challenges facing Americans today, and she aced it. With a relaxed grace that wowed the convention hall, she spoke in personal terms of a common American experience and voiced a deep belief that shared connection allows her husband to fight for all of us, but especially the women. Against a backdrop of the GOP assault on women's right and an economic recession disproportionately affecting women, her words offered a handhold for the slipping hope that ran rampant just four years ago.
* * *
Lynn Parramore writing at AlterNet:
The First Lady struck a distinctly populist chord in her speech, reminding listeners than she and her husband have known what it's like to struggle to pay off debt and, in her husband's case, afford a nice pair of shoes of the correct size to wear on a date. That message. drawing sharp contrast to the gold-plated Romneys, was appreciated in a state where the poverty rate and unemployment numbers are worse than the national average. Fully connected to the crowd, Michelle Obama had to pause a time or two for standing ovations and extended cheers. Reporters dropped their cynical expressions. Some people cried. Suddenly the lights had come on in Charlotte.
* * *
Harold Meyerson writing at The American Prospect:
Michelle Obama's speech was the single most successful speech to a national political convention since--well, since a U.S. Senate candidate just on the cusp of fame delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston. Her voice was stunning; she spoke with a timbre of deep emotion held in check by an equally apparent discipline. She's clearly so schooled herself in public speaking that we can acclaim her as a natural. And she delivered many of the things Ann Romney didn't in her own testament to her husband--notably, some genuine anecdotes about the man in her life.
* * *
# # #