. . . that this first couple do really put the concerns and needs of ordinary (and extraordinary) Americans at the front of their thinking and efforts.
He says, “Michelle, it’s not right. We have got to fix this"
excerpts from remarks by the First Lady, Michelle Obama, at a campaign event at Chelsea Piers, New York, New York:
. . . what you all need to know is that your President, Barack, understands this all too well. He knows these issues because he’s lived them. He was raised by a single mom who struggled to put herself through school and pay the bills. And she watched -- he watched her struggle. And when she needed help, who stepped up but his grandmother. She would wake up every morning before dawn to take a bus to a job at a bank.
And his grandmother worked very hard, and she was good at what she did. But like so many women, she hit a glass ceiling and she watched men no more qualified than she was be promoted up the ladder ahead of her. So Barack knows what it means when a family struggles. He knows what it means when someone doesn’t have a chance to fulfill their potential.
And those are the experiences that have made him the man -- and more importantly, the President -- he is today. And we are so lucky to have him. We are so lucky to have that kind of man as President. (Applause.)
And that’s what I see in him in those quiet moments at home late at night, after Malia and Sasha have gone to bed, and he’s up late at night, poring over the thousands of letters that people send him every week. The letter from the woman dying of cancer whose insurance company won’t cover her care. Or the letter from the father struggling to pay his family’s bills. The letters from far too many young people with so much promise, but so few opportunities. And I hear the passion and determination in his voice. He says, “Michelle, it’s not right. We have got to fix this. We have so much more work to do.”
Well, that’s what he carries with him every single day -- it is our collection of struggles and hopes and dreams. And that’s why, even in the hardest moments, when it seems like all is lost, Barack Obama never loses sight of the end goal. He never gets caught up in the chatter and the noise. He just keeps moving forward. He just keeps fighting for our children and for our future.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002444735
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