Michelle Obama's Speech at DNC

People have been tweeting how inspiring Michelle Obama's speech was at the Democratic National Convention last 4th Sept. I opted to read the entire transcript and see it for myself. 

Truth be told, Barrack Obama is a blessed man for having a wife like Michelle. He found a kindred spirit to whom he shared his values, beliefs and virtues.

Here's the full transcript of First Lady Michelle Obama which I got from Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/04/transcript-michelle-obama-speech-at-dnc/

SPEAKER:  FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA

   OBAMA:  Thank you.  Thank you so much.  Thank you so much.

With your help -- with your help.

   (APPLAUSE)

Let me -- let me start

With your help -- with your help.  Let me -- let me

start. I want to start by thanking Elaine.  Elaine, thank you so

much. We are so grateful for your family's service and

sacrifice.  And we will always have your back.

   (APPLAUSE)

   Over the past few years as first lady, I have had the

extraordinary privilege of travelling all across this country.

And everywhere I have gone and the people I've met and the

stories I've heard, I have seen the very best of the American

spirit.

   I've seen it in the incredible kindness and warmth that

people have shown in me and my family especially our girls.

I've seen it in teachers in a near bankrupt school district to

vowed to keep teaching without pay.  I -- I have seen it in

people become heroes at a moment's notice, diving into harm's

way to save others, flying across the country to put out a fire,

diving for hours to bail out a town. And, I've seen it in our

men and women in uniform and our proud military families.

   (APPLAUSE)

   In -- in wounded warriors who tell me they are not just

going to walk again, they are going to run and they are going to

run marathons.

   (APPLAUSE)

   In the young men blinded by a bomb in Afghanistan who said

simply, ``I'd give my eyes and 100 times again to have the chance

to do what I have done, and what I can still do''.

   (APPLAUSE)

   Every day, the people I meet inspire me.  Every day they

make me proud.  Every day they remind me how blessed we are to

live in the greatest nation on earth.

   (APPLAUSE)

   Serving as your first lady is an honor and a privilege.

But, back when we first came together four years ago, I still

had some concerns about this journey we'd begun.

   While I believe it if we dig deeply in my husband's vision

for this country, and I was certain he would make an

extraordinary president, like any mother, I was worried about

what it would mean for our girls if he got that chance.  How

would we keep them grounded under the glare of the national

spotlight?  How would they feel being uprooted from their

school, their friends and the only home they'd ever known?

   See our life before moving to Washington was filled with

simple joys.  Saturdays at soccer games, Sundays at grandma's

house, and a date night for Barack and me with either dinner or

a movie because as an exhausted mom, I couldn't stay awake for

both.

   (LAUGHTER)

   And the truth is, I loved the life we had built for our

girls. And I deeply love the man I built that life with and I

did not want that to change if he became president.

   (APPLAUSE)

   I loved Barack just the way he was.  You see, even back

then, when Barack was a Senator and presidential candidate, to

me, he was still the guy who picked me up for our dates in a car

that was so rusted out, I could actually see the pavement going

by in a hole in the passenger side door.

   (LAUGHTER)

   He was the guy whose proudest possession was a coffee table

he'd found in a dumpster.

   (APPLAUSE)

   And whose only pair of decent was half a size too small.

But see when -- when Barack started telling me about his family,

see now that's when I knew I'd found in him a kindred spirit.

Someone whose values and upbringing were so much like mine.

   You see Barack and I were both raised by families that did

not have much in the way of money or material possessions but

who had given us something far more valuable:  their

unconditional love, their unflinching sacrifice and the chance

to go places they had never imagined for themselves.

   (APPLAUSE)

   My father was a pump operator at the city water plant, and

he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and my brother and I

were young. And even as a kid, I knew there were plenty of days

when he was in pain.  And I knew there were plenty of morning

when it was a struggle for him to simply get out of bed.

But every morning I watched my father wake up with

a smile, grab his walker, prop himself against the sink and

slowly shave and button his uniform.

   And when he returned home after a long day's work, my

brother and I would  stand at the top of the stairs of our

apartment, patiently waiting to greet him, watching as he

reached down to lift one leg and then the other to slowly climb

his way into our arms.  But despite these challenges, my dad

hardly ever missed a day of work.  He and my mom were determined

to give me and my brother the kind of education they could only

dream of.

   (APPLAUSE)

   And when my brother and I finally made it to college,

nearly all of our tuition came from student loans and grants,

but my dad still had to pay a tiny portion of that tuition

himself, and every semester, he was determined to pay that bill

right on time, even taking out loans when he fell short.  He was

so proud to be sending his kids to college and he made sure we

never missed a registration deadline because his check was late.

You see, for my dad, that is what it meant to be a man.

   (APPLAUSE)

   Like so many of us that was the measure of his success in

life. Being able to earn a decent living that allowed him to

support his family.  And as I got to know Barack, I realize that

even though he had grown up all the way across the country, he

had been brought up just like me.

   Barack was raised by a single mom who  struggled to pay

bills and by grandparents who stepped in when she needed help.

Barack's grandmother started out as a secretary at a community

bank.  She moved quickly up the ranks, but like so many women,

she hit a glass ceiling. And for years, men no more qualified

than she was, men she actually trained, were promoted up the

ladder ahead of her, earning more and more money while Barack's

family continue to scrap by.

   But day after day, she kept on waking up at dawn to catch

the bus, arriving at work before anyone else, giving her best

without complaint or regret.  And she would often tell Barack,

``So long as you kids do well Bar, that is all that really

matters.''  Like so many American families, our families weren't

asking for much.  They didn't begrudge anyone else's success or

care that others had much more than they did.  In fact, they

admired it.  They simply believed in that fundamental American

promise -- that even if you don't start out with much, if you

work hard and do what you are supposed to do, you should be able

to build a decent life for yourself and an even better life for

your kids and grandkids.  That's how they raised us.

   (APPLAUSE)

   That's what we learned from their example.  We learned

about dignity and decency.  That how hard you work matters more

than how much you make.  That helping others means more than

just getting ahead yourself.

   (APPLAUSE)

   We learned about honesty and integrity.  That the truth

matters. That you don't take shortcuts are played by your own

set of rules.

   (APPLAUSE)

   And success doesn't count unless you earn it fair and

square.  We learned about gratitude and humility .  That so many

people had a hand in our success from the teachers who inspired

us to the janitors who kept our school clean.

   (APPLAUSE)

   And we were taught to value everyone's contribution and

treat everyone with respect.  Those are the values that Barack

and I and so many of you are trying to pass on to our own

children.  That's who we are.  And standing before you four

years ago, I knew that I did not want any of that to change if

Barack became president.  Well today, after so many struggles

and triumphs and moments that have tested my husband in ways I

never could have imagined, and I have seen firsthand that being

president does not change who you are.  No, it reveals the you

are.

   (APPLAUSE)

   You see, I have gotten to see up close and personal what

being president really looks like, and I've seen how the issues

that come across a president's desk are always the hard ones.

You know, the problems where no amount of data are members will

get you to the right answer.  The judgment calls where the

stakes are so high and there is no margin for error.  And as

president, you are going to get all kinds of advice from all

kinds of people, but at the end of the day when it comes time to

make that decision as president, all you have to guide you are

your values and your vision and the life experiences that make

you who you are.

   (APPLAUSE)

   So when it comes to rebuilding our economy, Barack is

thinking about folks like my dad and like his grandmother.  He's

thinking about the pride that comes from a hard day's work.

That is why he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to help

women get equal pay for equal work.

   (APPLAUSE)

   That is why he cut taxes for working families at small

businesses and fought to get the of the industry back on its

feet.

   (APPLAUSE)

   That's how he brought our economy and the brink of collapse

to creating jobs again.  Jobs you can raise a family on, good

jobs. Right here in the United States of America.

   (APPLAUSE)

   When it comes to the health of our families, Barack refused

to listen to those folks who told him to leave health reform for

another day.  Another president.  He didn't care whether it was

the easy thing to do politically.  That is not how he was

raised.  He cared that it was the right thing to do.

   (APPLAUSE)

   He -- he did it because he believed that here in America,

our grandparents should be able to afford their medicine.  Our

kids should be able to see a doctor when they're sick.  And no

one in this country should ever go broke because of an accident

or an illness.

   (APPLAUSE)

   And he believes that women are more than capable of making

our own choices about our bodies and our health care.

   (APPLAUSE)

   That is what my husband stands for.

   (APPLAUSE)

   When it comes to giving our kids the education they

deserve, Barack knows that like me and so many of you, he never

could have attended college without financial aid.  And believe

it or not, when we were first married, our combined monthly

student loan bill was actually higher than our mortgage.  We

were so young, so in love, and so in debt.

   (LAUGHTER)

   And that's why Barack has fought so hard to increase

student aid, and keep interest rates down because he wants every

young person to attend college without a mountain of debt.

   (APPLAUSE)

   So, in the end for Barack, these issues are not political.

They're personal.  Because Barack knows what it means when a

family struggles.  He knows what it means to want something more

for your kids and grandkids.  Barack knows the American dream

because he's lived it.

   (APPLAUSE)

   And he wants everyone in this country, everyone to have the

same opportunity no matter who we are or where we are from or

what we look like or who we love.

   (APPLAUSE)

   And he believes that when you work hard and done well and

walk through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it

shut behind you.

No, you reach back and you give other folks the

same chances that help you succeed.

   (APPLAUSE)

   So when people ask me whether being in the White House has

changed my husband, I can honestly say that when it comes to his

character and his convictions and his heart, Barack Obama is

still the same man I fell in love with all those years ago.

   (APPLAUSE)

   He is the same man who started his career by turning down

high- paying jobs and instead of working in struggling

neighborhoods where a steel plant had shutdown, fighting to

rebuild communities and get folks back to work.  Because for

Barack, success isn't about how much money you make.  It is

about the difference you make in people's lives.

   (APPLAUSE)

   He is the same man -- he is the same man when our girls

were first born, would anxiously checked their cribs every few

minutes to ensure they were still breathing, proudly showing

them off to everyone we knew.  You see, that's the man who sit

down with me and our girls for dinner nearly every night,

patiently answering questions about issues in the news,

strategizing about middle school friendships. That's the man I

see in those quiet moments late at night, hunched over his desk,

pouring over the letters people have sent him.  The letter from

the father struggling to pay his bills.  From the woman dying of

cancer whose insurance company won't cover her care.  From the

young people with some much promise but so few opportunities.

And I see the concern in his eyes, and I hear the determination

in his voice as he tells me, ``You won't believe what these folks

are going through Michelle.  It's not right.  We have got to

keep working to fix this.  We have so much more to do.''

   (APPLAUSE)

   I see how those stories...

   AUDIENCE:  Four more years!

   OBAMA:  I see how those stories, our collection of

struggles and hopes and dreams, I see how that's what drives

Barack Obama every single day.  And I did not think it was

possible, but let me tell you today, I love my husband even more

than I did four years ago.  Even more than I did 23 years ago

when we first met.

   (APPLAUSE)

   Let me tell you why -- I love that he has never forgotten

how he started.  I love that we can trust Barack to do what he

says he is going to do, even when it is hard, especially when

it's hard.  I love that for Barack, there is no such thing as us

and them.  He doesn't care whether you are a Democrat, a

Republican, or none of the above. He knows that we all love our

country, and he is always ready to listen to good ideas, he is

always looking for the very best in everyone he meets.  And I

love that even in the toughest moments, when we're all sweatin'

it -- when we're worried that the bill won't pass, and it seems

like all is lost, see Barack never lets himself get distracted

by the chatter and noise.  No, just like his grandmother, he

just keeps getting up and moving forward with patience and

wisdom, and courage and grace.

   (APPLAUSE)

   And he reminds me -- he reminds me that we are playing a

long game here, and that change is hard, and change is low and

never happens all at once, but eventually we get there, we

always do.  We get there because of folks like my dad, folks

like Barack's grandmother, men and women who said to themselves,

``I may not have a chance to fulfill my dreams but maybe my

children will.  Maybe my grandchildren will.''  See, so many of

us stand here tonight because of their sacrifice, and longing

and steadfast love, because time and again, they swallowed their

fears and doubts and did what was hard.

   So today, when the challenges we face start to seem

overwhelming or even impossible, let us never forget that doing

the impossible is the history of this nation.

   OBAMA:  It is who we are as Americans.  It is how this

country was built.

   (APPLAUSE)

   And -- and if -- if our parents and grandparents could toil

-- and -- and struggle for us, you know if they could raise

beams of steel to the sky, send a man to the moon, connect the

world with a touch of a button, then surely, we can keep on

sacrificing and building for our own kids and grandkids, right?

   AUDIENCE:  Yes.

   OBAMA:  And if so many brave men and women could sacrifice

their lives for our most fundamental rights, then surely we can

do our parts as citizens of this great democracy to exercise

those rights.  Surely we can get to the polls on a election day

and make our voices heard.

   (APPLAUSE)

   If -- if farmers and -- and blacksmiths could win an

independence from an empire, if -- if immigrants could leave

behind every, if women can be dragged to jail for seeking to

vote, if a generation could defeat a depression and define

greatness for all time, if a young preacher could lift us to the

mountain top with his righteous dream, and if proud Americans

can be who they are and boldly stand at the altar with who they

love, then surely, surely, we can give everyone in this country

a fair chance at that great American dream.

   (APPLAUSE)

   Because in the end -- in the end, more than anything else,

that is the story of this country.  The story of unwavering hope

grounded in unyielding struggle.  That is what has made my story

and Barack's story and -- and so many American stories possible.

And let me tell you something, I say all of this tonight, not

just as a first lady, no, not just as a wife.  You see, at the

end of the day, my most important title is still mom-in-chief.

   (APPLAUSE)

   My -- my -- my daughters are -- are still at the heart of

my heart and the center of my world.  But, let me tell you,

today, I have none of those worries from four years ago, no.

Not about whether Barack and I were doing what was best for our

girls.  Because today, I know from experience that if I truly

want to leave a better world for my daughters, and for all of

our sons and daughters, if -- if we want to give all of our

children a foundation for their dreams, and opportunities worthy

of their promise, if we want to give them a sense of that

limitless possibility, their belief that here in America, there

is always something better out there if you are willing to work

for it, then we must work like never before, and we must once

again come together, and stand together for the man we can trust

to keep moving this great country forward.

   (APPLAUSE)

   My husband, our president, Barack Obama.

   Thank you.  God bless you, and God bless America.

XOXO

Einah