Michelle Obama tells supporters to gear up for 'last push'

A few minutes before 8 p.m., Michelle Obama appeared on a riser at presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign headquarters in Lexington.

When cheering from the more than 250 people died down, she thanked campaign volunteers and urged them to continue their efforts with a "last push" on Tuesday.

"It's that last push that can change things. It's that last conversation. It's that last knock on the door," she said, adding:

"Just consider what we are on the cusp of. We're right on the precipice of something phenomenal. It's right there, right within our grasp: the new America. The America we are building for our future."

Obama didn't mention her husband's Democratic primary opponent, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton or presumptive Republican nominee John McCain in her 23-minute speech. Still, she did look beyond the primaries.

"After this, it will get harder," she said talking about some of the her husband has experiences in recent weeks. "We're already getting a taste of what's in store."

Every parking spot was taken at the strip mall off East Reynolds Road where the Lexington Obama offices are located.

Clinton is widely expected to win Kentucky. Obama didn't directly address her husband's chances here.

"He wasn't supposed to win every state. That was never a part of the equation that Barack Obama was going to come in and sweep the primary," Obama said. "But let's look at what he he has done."

She ticked off a list of several states Barack Obama won in the south and midwest and said those wins are a "representation of America. These are people who are saying, 'Yes, we can!'"

She urged campaign volunteers to continue working on Tuesday to turn out voters.


Sisters Dory and Beth Blackey went out around Lexington and canvassed for Obama on Monday. Both wore blue Obama stickers on their shirts and agreed there seemed to be a lot of excitement in the neighborhoods they visited.

Both said they really like Obama's message of bipartisanship and inclusion as well as his stance on universal health care and the Iraq war. Also, it's important having someone who can lead in a "positive manner," Beth Blackey, a college junior, said.

- Steve Lannen

Comments

[neverspun]

We shall see if we are a more enlightened state, as we select a presidential candidate, than we were in 2000, and 2004.

Barack Obama is our next president. Thank you for being here tonight, representing your husband, Mrs.Obama.

[James Pence]

Video of the event.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFGBUqrtvAw

[Mansfield]

The SurveyUSA poll has Clinton with a huge lead in KY. I'm not surprised although I was hoping Obama could make KY respectable. It does look like Obama will win Oregon today.

[Rain Man]

Michelle, sweetie, go be proud somewhere else.