GAMBIER — Following an afternoon rally at Miami University on Saturday, First Lady Michelle Obama was greeted at Kenyon College by a crowd of 1,800 in the Kenyon Athletic Center.
Former First Lady of Ohio Francis Strickland spoke to the crowd as they waited for the First Lady.
“One thing I can tell all of you is the people of Ohio want to move forward, not backward,” Strickland said.
She also told the Kenyon students, “This is one study break you’ll remember the rest of your lives,” and she encouraged people to vote early, to volunteer, and to encourage others to vote.
When she arrived, Michelle Obama immediately addressed the devastation on the east coast from Hurricane Sandy, noting, “Our hearts go out to them and we all want to keep those folks in our prayers.”
Hundreds of Kenyon students were among those filling the bleachers and she thanked the students and faculty for their support and stated, “This is a beautiful campus and a beautiful facility and you all should be proud. You all seem pretty fired up and ready to go already.”
She said she was also fired up for the opportunity to see the president re-elected.
“I just love that guy,” she said, “Now let me tell you about this man, this president guy that I’m married to. What made me fall in love with him ... was his compassion, his conviction, the fact that he was always so committed to helping others. But I also love that Barack was so devoted to his family, especially the women in his life.”
Obama reviewed values she shares with the president, like education. “We believe in an America where every child should have the opportunity to go to good schools,” she stated.
They also believe in an America where, “none of us gets where we are on our own” and in cutting “wasteful spending,” but by making “smart investments in things like education and infrastructure for an economy that’s built to last.”
Reviewing the president’s accomplishments, she noted that for education he doubled funding for Pell grants and he also supported women’s rights.
“As women, we know my husband will always have our backs. Because Barack knows from personal experience what it means for a family when women aren’t treated fairly in the workplace. And that is why the first bill he signed into law as president was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act to make sure women get equal pay for equal work,” she stated.
Obama added health reform to the president’s accomplishments noting, “Our young people can stay on their parents’ insurance until they’re 26 years old.”
She also said that the president ended the war in Iraq and that young immigrants no long have to fear being deported.
She closed her address encouraging students and the community to persuade people to vote in the last few days before the election.
“It’s all up to us,” she said, “It will come down to what happens in a few key battleground states like here in Ohio.”
Contact Rhonda Bletner
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