Michelle Obama Rallies Women for Barack

Posted by Adele M. Stan, The Media Consortium at 5:00 PM on August 28, 2008.

DENVER--Today's meeting of the Democratic Women's Caucus featured a surprise guest: Michelle Obama.

The potential first lady is making a concerted effort, it seems, to reach out to the different women's constituency groups in the Democratic party, including those closely allied with Hillary Clinton. (Earlier this week, Michelle Obama spoke to a gathering sponsored by Emily's List, the organization that bundles donations to fund pro-choice candidates.)

In today's remarks, Ms. Obama offered Hillary Clinton some major props, saying, "Thanks to her, my husband is a better candidate." The ballroom full of women echoed with cheers and applause. "Thanks to her," Michelle Obama continued, "his campaign is a better campaign. And thanks to her, my daughters -- and all of our daughters -- have the freedom to dream bigger dreams..."

Michelle Obama went on to list the causes dear to the hearts of caucus-goers: healthcare, equal pay, reproductive rights. She spoke rather poignantly of the tensions of being a mother who works outside the home, saying she often feels she short-changing her daughters when she's at work or on the campaign trail, and feels she's giving the job and the campaign short shrift when she focuses on her girls. "We all know that guilt," she said, "and I know I can get an 'amen' on that." The audience shouted back, "Amen."

Her remarks ended in an appeal to the party's women activists to redouble their efforts on behalf of the Obama campaign. Predicting the upcoming election to be "a tight contest," Michelle Obama told a roomful of admirers, "Women are going to make the difference in this campaign ... I am going to need you every step of the way."

Tagged as: women's rights, hillary clinton, dnc, michelle obama, denver