Yes, We Can!

Megan, this post is for you. This covers at least some of the things that were talked about at the rally.

First of all, the man who introduced her is actually from Utah, he's served several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now works for the State Department in the Middle East. Before the primary runs started, he flew home to meet with several of the potential candidates on both sides of the aisle, and he decided that Barack is the real deal. His second flight home in the last while was to come introduce Michelle Obama. (As he said, "Yes, there are donkeys in Deseret!")

Michelle was an intelligent and dynamic speaker (it's so nice to have women in the campaign that are articulate and powerful!). She mentioned how children like Ryan and Joy are so full of hope and that it is our responsibility to see that they have opportunities and that we give them a world where they can dream because dreams are so important. She mentioned that as she and Barack have been traveling across the country she's been amazed at how we are all trying to live and be decent people and we all pretty much want the same thing: that if we work hard every day, we can make enough to live decently and provide for our children; that our kids get a good education in the public schools; that after working hard throughout our lives, seniors can retire without fear of losing their pensions or going into bankruptcy because of health problems. She talked about how most families would love to have a parent stay at home with their young children, but that those who do often do so at their financial peril. Because so many households have both parents working, grandparents are more important than ever in young lives.

She talked about her own parents who worked blue collar jobs. Her father continued going to work after contracting MS, proud to go to work because he could. The kids went to public school. He and his wife put both of their kids through Princeton. She said that this is what most families want to be able to do, but our quality of life has been declining.

She also dismissed the attacks that have been made against Barack. She said that they've heard them all before when he was running for the Senate: he doesn't have enough experience, he's too black, he's not black enough, he's too young, he should wait his turn, etc. She said that he's the kind of man who comes around only once in a lifetime. (I completely agree, btw. My father and others have compared him to Kennedy with his vision and inspirational leadership.)

After yesterday, I'm feeling even more hopeful (especially since Hillary has just had to inject $5 million of her own money to try and keep up with Barack). Yes, we can!