{"id":10529,"date":"2020-08-18T05:24:03","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T12:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=10529"},"modified":"2020-08-18T05:24:03","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T12:24:03","slug":"michelle-obama-going-high-is-the-only-thing-that-works-politico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=10529","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Michelle Obama: \u2018Going high is the only thing that works\u2019&#8221;, Politico"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"page-content__row page-content__row--story\">\n<div class=\"container container--story story-layout--fluid-fixed\">\n<div class=\"container__column container__column--story summary-middle\">\n<div class=\"container__row container__row--story story-layout--fixed-fluid\">\n<div class=\"container__column container__column--story center-horizontally\">\n<div class=\"story-text\">\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">By <span class=\"vcard\">Matthew Choi<\/span>\u00a0and <span class=\"vcard\">Max Cohen, 08\/18\/20<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\"><em>In her keynote speech at the Democratic convention, the former first lady described Joe Biden as a down-to-earth politician prepared to lead the country out of crisis.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">Despite the personal attacks that have streamed from the Trump White House, former first lady Michelle Obama is sticking by her mantra of going high when others go low.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">\u201cGoing high is the only thing that works,\u201d she said on Monday night.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"story-enhancement\">\n<div id=\"pol-05-wrap\" class=\"content-group ad  is-loaded\"><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">In the keynote address of the first day of the Democratic National Convention, Obama hailed Joe Biden as a \u201cprofoundly decent man\u201d and highlighted his experience as vice president under her husband\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"container__column container__column--story hide-under-small\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"page-content__row page-content__row--story main-section\" data-content-section=\"5\">\n<div class=\"container container--story story-layout--fixed-fluid\">\n<div class=\"container__column container__column--story\">\n<div class=\"container__row container__row--story story-layout--fluid-fixed\">\n<div class=\"container__column container__column--story center-horizontally\">\n<div class=\"story-text\">\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-0\">Obama said that she\u2019d seen Biden at work and that he\u2019d proved himself capable of handling the demands of the job. She cited several of the Obama administration\u2019s achievements as evidence of Biden\u2019s aptness for office, from expanding health care under the Affordable Care Act to rallying allies to combat climate change.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-1\">\u201cYou simply cannot fake your way through this job,\u201d Obama said. \u201cBeing president doesn\u2019t change who you are. It reveals who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-2\">\u201cWell, a presidential election can reveal who we are, too,\u201c she continued.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-3\">Obama cast the election as about not only policy but also character. She described the Trump era as one filled with division and devoid of empathy. She expressed fear for the values being passed on to future generations \u2014 as the national leadership demeans the Black Lives Matter movement, as the wearing of masks in public has become a political act, and as winning has become everything \u201cbecause as long as you come out on top, it doesn\u2019t matter what happens to everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-4\">To Obama, electing Biden meant a return to civility and moral leadership in the White House \u2014 a change as important as any policy agenda Biden could offer.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-5\">\u201cI know Joe,\u201d she said, seated in a living room, wearing a thin, gold V-O-T-E necklace, with family pictures and a Biden for President sign in the background. \u201cHe is a profoundly decent man, guided by faith.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"page-content__row page-content__row--story is-full-width-bleed\" data-ad-section=\"5\">\n<aside class=\"story-enhancement\">\n<div class=\"ad is-loaded\"><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"page-content__row page-content__row--story main-section\" data-content-section=\"16\">\n<div class=\"container container--story story-layout--fixed-fluid\">\n<div class=\"container__column container__column--story\">\n<div class=\"container__row container__row--story story-layout--fluid-fixed\">\n<div class=\"container__column container__column--story center-horizontally\">\n<div class=\"story-text\">\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-0\">Obama is a widely popular figure in the Democratic Party, despite her never having held elected office. She has opened up about the challenges her husband\u2018s presidency presented to her family, and said during her Monday speech, \u201cYou know I hate politics.\u201c<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-1\">Her speech at the 2016 convention<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mu_hCThhzWU\" target=\"_blank\"><u> made headlines<\/u><\/a> when she declared, \u201cWhen they go low, we go high,\u201d in reference to attacks on her family.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-2\">Still, she did not spare her criticisms, and made clear that to \u201cgo high\u201c did not mean to go soft. She issued a searing criticism of President Donald Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump, she said, is &#8220;clearly in over his head\u201c and isn\u2019t capable of fulfilling his responsibilities.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-3\">\u201cHe cannot meet this moment,\u201d she said. \u201cHe simply cannot be who we need him to be for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-4\">\u201cIt is what it is,\u201d she said, an apparent jab at Trump for the same line he used when confronted with the death toll from the coronavirus.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-5\">Obama also acknowledged Biden\u2019s flaws, adding that the former vice president himself \u201cwill be the first to tell you that\u201c he is not perfect.<b><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-6\">Still, she called on voters to rally around Biden, evoking the 2008 and 2012 turnout that took her husband to the White House. She discouraged voters from not voting as a protest of Biden&#8217;s nomination in what seemed to be a reference to the Bernie Sanders supporters who loudly voiced their discontent with Hillary Clinton&#8217;s nomination in 2016.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-7\">\u201cThis is not the time to withhold our votes in protest or play games with candidates who have no chance of winning,\u201c Obama said.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-8\">Citing Biden\u2019s history of family tragedies, Obama said his life was \u201ca testament to getting back up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-9\">\u201cAnd he is going to channel that same grit and passion to pick us all up, to help us heal and guide us forward,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-10\">Obama&#8217;s speech drew praise from fellow Democrats. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who had endorsed Sanders in the primaries, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/aoc\/status\/1295557739507326978?s=21\" target=\"_blank\">lauded<\/a> the former first lady\u2019s speech as \u201cIncredibly powerful, deeply moving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\" data-content-child-index=\"0-10\">Former Democratic presidential candidates also expressed their admiration for Obama\u2018s talk. Pete Buttigieg <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/petebuttigieg\/status\/1295558039408386048?s=21\" target=\"_blank\">tweeted<\/a> after her address: \u201cSuch wisdom, such grace, and such moral clarity from Michelle Obama tonight. She is so right about the America we can, and must, be.\u201c<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"page-content__row page-content__row--story main-section\">\n<div class=\"container container--story story-layout--fixed-fluid\">\n<div class=\"container__column container__column--story\">\n<div class=\"container__row container__row--story story-layout--fluid-fixed\">\n<div class=\"container__column container__column--story center-horizontally\">\n<div class=\"story-text\">\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">And Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CoryBooker\/status\/1295553796110778369\" target=\"_blank\">wrote<\/a>: \u201cI miss Obama, and I miss her husband too.\u201c<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">But not everyone had such flattering reviews. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who ran for the Republican nomination in 2016, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LindseyGrahamSC\/status\/1295555250401796096\" target=\"_blank\">tweeted<\/a> that his \u201cview of what life was like after the Obama presidency is much different than that of\u201c Michelle Obama. Trump retweeted Graham.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">Even before the convention began, Trump chided Obama for prerecording her speech.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\">\u201cWho wants to listen to Michelle Obama do a taped speech?\u201d Trump said to booing supporters in Oshkosh, Wis.<\/p>\n<p class=\" story-text__paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2020\/08\/17\/michelle-obama-joe-biden-decent-convention-speech-397211\">Politico<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Matthew Choi\u00a0and Max Cohen, 08\/18\/20 In her keynote speech at the Democratic convention, the former first lady described Joe Biden as a down-to-earth politician prepared to lead the country out of crisis. Despite the personal attacks that have streamed from the Trump White House, former first lady Michelle Obama is sticking by her mantra [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10529"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10529"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10530,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10529\/revisions\/10530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}