U.S. first lady Michelle Obama has told the 2012 Democratic Convention and millions of viewers that she has seen firsthand that being president of the United States has not changed her husband; it has revealed to Americans who he is.
“I can honestly say that when it comes to his character, and his conventions, and his heart, Barack Obama is still the same man I fell in love with all those years ago.”
Mrs. Obama closed out the opening day of the convention Tuesday in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the party aimed to give a significant boost to the reelection campaign of her husband Barack Obama. Mrs. Obama testified to her husband's character and his ability to make tough political choices.
“Barack refused to listen to all those folks who told him to leave health reform for another day, another president. He didn't care whether it was the easy thing to do politically –that's not how he was raised–he cared that it was the right thing to do.”
Republican challenger Mitt Romney has vowed to work toward repealing Mr. Obama's health care overhaul if elected. Recent voter surveys show the two are virtually tied ahead of the November 26 presidential election.
The convention's opening day Tuesday reached out to women voters, with Mrs. Obama recounting how the president's early background — and his grandmother's employment setbacks — helped shape his governing policies as president.
Women still earn just 77 cents for every dollar men make in the U.S., and among the speakers was Lilly Ledbetter, a woman who lost her fight for equal pay in the Supreme Court but later became the namesake of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. President Obama signed the bill into law, giving women and other minorities more time to file a lawsuit against pay discrimination.
“This fight became bigger than Lilly Ledbetter. Today, it's about my daughter. It's about my granddaughter. It's about women and men. It's about families.”
Julian Castro, the mayor of the southwestern city of San Antonio, Texas, gave the convention's keynote address Tuesday. The rising Hispanic figure in the Democratic party attacked the Republican presidential candidate, Mr. Romney.
“Mitt Romney has undergone an extreme makeover, and it ain't pretty. So here's what we're going to say to Mitt Romney. We're going to say, “No.”'
Castro also told viewers that people in his state pride themselves for working hard to succeed on their own, but they also recognized that there are some things that they cannot do alone.
“We all celebrate individual success. But the question is, how do we multiply that success? The answer is President Barack Obama.”
Former president Bill Clinton will formally place Mr. Obama's name up for nomination on Wednesday night. Mr. Obama will accept his nomination Thursday night during a nationally-televised speech held at the city's 74,000-seat outdoor football stadium, as will his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden.
