Friday, June 22, 2007

"Obama's wife touts husband's presidential experience"


Sioux City Journal (IA):
On the same day that Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama delivered a major policy speech on ethics reform in New Hampshire, Michelle Obama drew quite a crowd herself, the size of which some presidential candidates themselves don't draw 16 months out from the election.
Speaking to 130 people, while sharing glimpses into the personal side of her husband, Michelle Obama also contended Barack Obama should be the Democrat's 2008 party nominee because his experiences have shaped him for the presidency.

Michelle Obama said she doesn't get those who question Barack Obama's experience, since he's worked as a community organizer, civil rights attorney, constitutional law scholar, graduated summa cum laude from Harvard Law School and served eight years in the Illinois legislature before becoming a U.S. senator from Illinois in 2003.

"He may not have years in Washington, but we see what years in Washington get us," she said to the largest applause of the event.

Further, Michelle Obama said, her husband shares the hard work and sense of purpose that her blue-collar father did in raising the family while working for the city of Chicago.

That resonated with Shelisa Fields of Dakota Dunes, S.D., who has lived in Siouxland since 1987 after leaving her hometown of Chicago. "We need to really implement family values again in the community," Fields said.

Fields added that Obama "knows the struggles, he knows the trials, the tribulations. He knows hard work pays off. He is used to working with communities, so he knows that approach."

Michelle Obama said the Obamas are trying to "make this campaign feel different," to engage people personally, talking about "hope" and trying to make connections with Americans, which some people find "naive." That sort of a connection with the populace, she said, is as important as a position on health care policy.

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