In DNC speech, Michelle Obama declares 'something wonderfully magical is in the air'
Former first lady Michelle Obama delivered a powerful speech Tuesday to the Democratic National Convention in her hometown of Chicago, where she declared that thanks to the ascendant candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris, “hope is making a comeback.”
“Something wonderfully magical is in the air, isn’t it?” she began. “We’re feeling it here in this arena, but it’s spreading all across this country we love, a familiar feeling that’s been buried too deep for too long. You know what I’m talking about. It’s the contagious power of hope.”
“America, hope is making a comeback,” she added.
‘My girl, Kamala Harris’
Revered by Democrats, Michelle Obama has long been viewed as a possible presidential candidate, even though she has repeatedly said she has no intention of ever entering politics. A poll released following President Biden’s much-criticized debate performance against former President Donald Trump in late June found that Michelle Obama was the only Democrat in a hypothetical field, including Vice President Kamala Harris, who beat Trump in a head-to-head matchup.
Tuesday’s speech showed what a potent political ally she can be for Harris. After recounting the sadness of mourning the death of her mother in May, Obama moved on to Harris’s mother, an immigrant to America from India.
“Even though our mothers grew up an ocean apart, they shared the same belief in the promise of this country,” Obama said, adding, “She taught Kamala about justice. About the need to lift others up, about our responsibility to give more than you take.”
Those values, Obama said, helped prepare Harris for great heights, including jobs as San Francisco’s district attorney and California’s attorney general and senator.
“From a middle-class household, Kamala worked to become vice president of the United States of America,” Obama said. “My girl, Kamala Harris, is more than ready for this moment. She is one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidency.”
‘The affirmative action of generational wealth’
Obama also showed that she can land a political attack with the best of them.
“She understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward. We will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth,” she said in reference to Trump. “If we bankrupt a business or choke in a crisis, we don’t get a second, third or fourth chance. If things don’t go our way, we don’t have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead.”
And in a swipe at Trump over his past statement that undocumented immigrants were taking “Black jobs,” Obama kept up her pressure.
“I want to know, who is going to tell him that the job he is currently seeking might just be one of those Black jobs,” she said.
In the end, her speech sought to bolster Harris while calling her opponent’s political brand into question.
“Of the two major candidates in this race, only Kamala Harris truly understands the unseen labor and unwavering commitment that has always made America great,” she said.
