August 26, 2008

Michelle

"I come here as a sister ...

... as a wife who loves her husband and believes he will make an extraordinary President ...

... as a mom who believes my children's future and your childrens' future is what's at stake in this election ...

... as a daughter. My dad was a rock. He was our provider, our hero ...

... America should be a place where you can make it if you try ...

... We celebrate two anniversaries today: the 88th anniversary of women winning the right to vote and the 45th anniversary of that day when Dr King lifted our hearts ...

... each of us has something to contribute to this nation. It's a belief that Barack shares. It's what he did in the Illinois senate, moving people from welfare to jobs ...

... he wants to end the war in Iraq responsibly ...

... and make sure every child in this country has a world-class education ...

... and that's what Barack Obama will do as President of the United States of America ...

... he'll achieve these goals as he always has. By bringing us together ...

... he knows the thread that connects us, the belief in America's promise. One nation even when we disagree ...

... millions of Americans who know that Barack will fight for people like them ...

... In the end, after all that's happened these past 19 months, the Barack Obama I know is the same man I fell in love with 19 years ago.

... he's determined to give his children something he never had, the affirming embrace of a father's love ...

... and one day they'll tell their kids how this time we listened to our hopes instead of our fears. How this time we decided to stop doubting and start dreaming. How we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be ...

... so let's stand together to elect Barack Obama president of the United States of America."


Those were a few points that Michelle Obama made, speaking at the Democratic Convention in Denver just a few minutes ago.

***

Preceding Michelle Obama on stage at the Democratic Convention was Craig Robinson, her brother. He has no idea, but I can claim a tenuous connection to Craig Robinson. He is the new basketball coach at Oregon State University ("Go Beavers!" he said as he finished his speech), but it's not my love of that sport that's the connection. (That would be a mite too tenuous).

Robinson went there after finishing a two year stint as basketball coach at Brown University. Which is one of my alma maters.

***

Oddly enough, it was just this afternoon that I listened, while driving through northwestern Colorado, to the Martin Luther King speech Michelle Obama mentioned: the famous "I Have a Dream" moment of August 28, 1963.

1 comment:

Sidhusaaheb said...

"One nation even when we disagree ..."

When will we Indians be able to achieve that, if at all?