Michelle Obama’s DNC speech moves audience

“Today I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves. And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, black young women playing with their dogs on the White House lawn. And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States.”

First Lady Michelle Obama gave an emotional speech endorsing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention on Monday, triggering wild applause. “An absolute home run. Period. It will be difficult for anyone in the next three days to deliver a better speech than the first lady did on Monday night,” the Washington Post said.

Ms. Obama, a lawyer and graduate from Harvard Law School, continued her calm and convinced tone for 14 minutes. Though she was once at odds with Hillary Clinton who was a competitor to her husband during the 2008 Democratic primary, she clearly endorsed Hillary, saying, “I’m with her.” “Mrs. Clinton will need the kind of public affirmation from the White House that no one can convey more forcefully than the first lady,” The New York Times said.

“And when crisis hits, we don’t turn against each other. No, we listen to each other, we lean on each other, because we are always stronger together,” Michelle said. “In this election and every election is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four or eight years of their lives. And I am here tonight because in this election there is only one person who I trust with that responsibility, only one person who I believe is truly qualified to be president of the United States, and that is our friend Hillary Clinton.” The participants cheered waving the placards that read “Michelle” and former President Bill Clinton gave her a standing ovation.

Ms. Obama did not mention anything about Melania Trump’s plagiarizing her speech. Instead, she stressed, “So, look, so don’t let anyone ever tell you that this country isn’t great, that somehow we need to make it great again. Because this right now is the greatest country on earth!” She drew a lot of applause when she said, “When they go low, we go high.”

황인찬기자 hic@donga.com