Michelle Obama hits the campaign trail in Florida
TheGrio REPORT -- While the Republican presidential candidates battle it out ahead of the Florida primary, first lady Michelle Obama made her way to the sunshine state, too...
While the Republican presidential candidates battle it out ahead of the Florida primary, first lady Michelle Obama made her way to the sunshine state, too.
The first lady attended a $500 a person fundraiser in Sarasota Thursday afternoon with about 250 supporters, where she was introduced by a local woman who hosted a fundraiser with Mrs. Obama four years ago at the same locale.
Speaking to the small gathering, Mrs. Obama defended the economic improvements touted by President Barack Obama in his State of the Union Speech on Tuesday, saying,
“over the past three years we have worked very hard to dig ourselves out of this mess and we have made some wonderful progress.”
“And the unemployment rate is now the lowest it’s been in nearly 3 years,” Mrs. Obama said.
The first lady used the appearance to promote Democratic-led legislation like the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act which calls for women to receive the same pay as men in equivalent jobs.
“It’s the first thing we did,” Mrs. Obama said, adding that the president pushed for passage of the bill “because when nearly two-thirds of women are breadwinners or co-breadwinners, he knows women success in this economy is key to family success in this economy.”
The first lady also touted the extension of unemployment benefits, and made a pitch for healthcare reform.
“Now, there are folks out there actually talking about repealing that reform,” Mrs. Obama said. “We have to ask ourselves: are we going to stand by and let that happen? Are we going back to the days when insurance companies could deny our children coverage because of a pre-existing condition, like cancer or diabetes or asthma?”
According to the pool report, Mrs. Obama received the loudest applause when she mentioned the killing of Osama bin Laden and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
But the main focus of the first lady’s remarks was on the economy. She said the president still receives letters from Americans who are struggling, despite improvements in the economy.
“He tells me, ‘Michelle, this isn’t right,” she said. “We got to fix this. We have so much more work to do.”
But she said the president never gets distracted, despite the difficult political and economic conditions.
“He does it because he has a vision for this country,” she said. “The reality is that real change is slow and it never happens all at once,” she said.
Earlier in the day, Michelle Obama visited a supermarket in Tampa, promoting My PLate, or Mi Plato, the administration’s new program aimed at promoting healthy eating among Hispanic Americans.
Read more at the Tampa Bay Times.
