Michelle Obama Speaks at Haverford

Michelle Obama at Haverford College, photographed by Scott Schnur

During a campaign rally for Barack Obama at Haverford College, Michelle Obama spoke to an audience of over two thousand students, faculty, and community members about Barack's candidacy and the status of what she calls "normal folk." She stressed that at the beginning of Obama's campaign, the media portrayed Obama as an underdog, someone who could not raise money, create a strong support base of volunteers, or win primaries. As Barack exceeded everyone's expectations, the bar was set higher and expectations were raised. No matter what he did, it was never good enough.

Michelle Obama then related Barack's story to the story of everyday Americans, struggling to reach a bar that keeps moving away from them. She discussed Barack's upbringing as the son of a single mother. At the conclusion of her speech, Michelle Obama told the audience that change will be difficult, but Barack Obama is the president that we need to bring about this vital change.

Compared to Michelle Obama's speech at Villanova last month, her Haverford speech focused more on defending Barack against claims that he is elitist and "out of touch." She claimed that Barack “didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth.” She also discussed how she currently sees the world through her working-class upbringing, rather than through the eyes of a former Princeton and Harvard student.

There is a good description of her statements on elitism at the New York Times Politics Blog.

Edit: There is another article about Michelle Obama's visit from the Philadelphia Inquirer.