First Lady Michelle Obama is receiving rave reviews after a speech that sung her husband's praises as both a man and a president, and implored Democrats to work for his re-election. “Yes, hope and change but not hope and change magically overnight, but hope through hard work and patience and time and effort and then change,” Hardball host Chris Matthews said Tuesday night following the speech to the Democratic National Convention.
Michelle’s speech, Matthews added, "was a much more mature look at American life and a much more realistic look at their life.” The First Lady’s speech, which centered on the President’s own moral compass honed through his own years of struggle and striving, received rave reviews from pundits. Chris Hayes, the host of msnbc's Up with Chris Hayes, noted that the speech also made the argument that the president's moral compass is a core part of the reason why he deserves re-election. “If you like the man Barack Obama is, but feel a little ‘eh’ on how the country is, you can’t separate who that person is once they get in the Oval Office,” Hayes said. “The speech made a very explicit argument that the things that are the biggest political strengths of the president should be the controlling factor in casting your vote.”
“I think the most effective part was her telling how they related to their daughters,” Politics Nation host Rev. Al Sharpton pointed out. “People don’t put their kids up for a political auction and when she started talking about the dreams for their kids and how he’s at the dinner table answering the questions, that’s the thing that brings you beyond politics.”
For many, it was Michelle Obama’s brightest moment as First Lady. “Four years ago, the conventional wisdom was that she was a political liability,” GOP strategist Steve Schmidt said. “Four years later, she stands on the stage tonight delivering just an incredible speech.” Indeed: “She had the crowd right in the palm of her hand,” The Ed Show host Ed Schultz remarked. “Tonight we were reintroduced to a star.”
And Lawrence O'Donnell, the host of The Last Word, had an intriguing response. "Her political future, if she were to choose one, is virtually unlimited," he said.