Michelle Obama's Passionate Democratic National Convention Speech

Bill Clinton Speaks at the 2012 Democratic National Convention (C-SPAN) - Full Speech
Former President Bill Clinton addresses the 2012 Democratic National Convention. He is joined on stage following his speech by President Barack Obama.

US Election 2012: Barack Obama Says Mitt Romney Would Wreck the Economy
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama told Americans on Thursday night that he understood their “hope has been tested”, but appealed for four more years in the White House to stop Mitt Romney from wrecking their fragile economic recovery.

In an understated speech to the Democratic Party convention in North Carolina, the President told voters that amid their ongoing economic struggle, they must choose between “two fundamentally different visions for the future”.

Styling himself as the heir to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he said that while “ours is a fight to restore the values that built the largest middle class and the strongest economy the world has ever known,” his Republican challenger would reheat the deregulation and tax cuts for high-earners that had “got us into this mess”.

Boasting that thanks to his leadership, “Osama bin Laden is dead”, he attacked Mr Romney for showing his inexperience in foreign affairs by questioning London's preparedness to host the Olympic Games during a visit in July. “You might not be ready for diplomacy with Beijing if you can[‘]t visit the Olympics without insulting our closest ally,” said Mr Obama.

However, he returned repeatedly to the differences between their economic philosophies, and to implicit contrasts between his own humble upbringing and Mr Romney's childhood as the son of millionaires in Michigan, which he suggested left him best-placed to understand voters' economic woe.

Rejecting a central Republican claim that he did not appreciate entrepreneurs and business-owners, Mr Obama said: “We also believe in something called citizenship … the idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another, and to future generations”. » | Jon Swaine, Charlotte | Friday, September 07, 2012

Michelle Obama Makes the Political and Personal Case for Four More Years

THE GUARDIAN: First lady tells Democratic national convention [sic] her husband is the only candidate who will deliver opportunity for all

Michelle Obama electrified Democrats on the opening night of the party's national convention with a powerful and unashamedly personal speech in which she invoked the future of her own children as she made the personal and political case for her husband's re-election.

In an address that brought the 23,000-seat arena to its feet as delegates chanted "four more years", the first lady sought to persuade wavering voters that Barack Obama retained the same qualities that attracted them to him in 2008.

She deftly drew sharp contrasts with his Republican opponent Mitt Romney, avoiding attacking him directly but making clear her belief that he was deeply out of touch with ordinary people.

She described how both she and Obama had risen from modest beginnings, and said he was driven by a desire to see others get the same chance.

"He believes that when you've worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you," she said. "You reach back and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed."

Even before Mrs Obama took the stage, the convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, appeared to have more energy and enthusiasm than the Republican event in Tampa, Florida, last week. Buoyed by a series of strong speeches from the evening's earlier speakers, there was a boisterous, party atmosphere that contrasted with the relatively subdued mood in Tampa. » | Ewen MacAskill in Charlotte | Wednesday, September 05, 2012