we'll also have amazing performances! you do not want to miss this show. we will see you tomorrow night. democrats get under way. a lot has changed since the days of hope and change. tonight the party puts forward a rising star. the keynote speech from julian castro mayor of san antonio. then first lad michelle obama, making the case in primetime for four more years for the president. >> announcer: from nbc news, "decision 2012." the democratic national convention live from charlotte, north carolina.

good evening from charlotte, the arena home to the bobcats. tonight it is noisy and about the democrats. we get our first primetime glimpse of the message they have planned. days after tampa, 63 days until the election and a lot has changed as we said at the top of the broadcast since the days of hope and change, the last democratic convention in '0 #. tonight we hear from a man billed as a rising star, young mayor of san antonio and from a more established star, first lady, michelle obama. our team is in place for all of it including the largest fleet of white house correspondents, current and former. for starters in the booth, tom brokaw, david gregory, savannah guthrie. david, we heard the jimmy carter tribute, ted kennedy tribute, mayor, governor of massachusetts lit up the crowd. how would you put the excitement

level vis-a-vis tampa? >> it is high. on night one. enthusiasm is key. mayor castro, so important for team obama to be able to energize core supporters, hispanic voters, women, younger voters. a lot of this is about giving the president a second look by all the voters to get that excitement. >> tom, as you know, a set of things a politician walks around knowing. price of a gallon of milk. price of a gallon of gas. and the answer to are you better off? the question ronald reagan knocked out of the park. having said that, the democrats have a messaging problem before this got under way. >> they did over the weekend. i think over the course of this campaign that will be translated into the two halves of the campaign coin. mr. romney's case against barack obama will be translated into look what he has done to you. on the other hand, president obama will say of mitt romney, look what he will do to you.

and tonight, we're going to see a lot of this message directed at two really important voting blocks, women, and hispanics. they will come together in this hour. >> savannah guthrie, tonight, a hyper-energized, hyper-educated first lady, princeton, harvard law, today all about sending a kid off to high school. >> that's right. she will be talking about her roots as a mother and telling the story i think of being a reluctant political spouse in the beginning. she has changed a lot in four years, one of the president's most fierce advocates. democrats hoping to leverage popularity on behalf of barack obama. she has this trademark plain-spoken style from the heart i think we will see a lot this evening. >> we want to give folks an idea of where we are, tour of the floor if you will. chuck todd, our chief white house correspondent and political director, is down there.

and, chuck, is is a different convention in many ways. first of all, weather permitting, thursday, we go outse to the outdoor stadium where the president is going to give his speech. and during the indoor hours of this convention, different configuration on the floor. this is a basketball arena. it is tighter, especially where the democrats have laid out the floor. preview tonight for us. >> well, it is. somebody told me no hockey hallways, tight quarters here. arena itself, not really suited for a political convention. but, it does seem to fire people up which i think they like and it is good for television. but brian, they picked north carolina, remember for their own organizational purposes, the same reason why they like having denver four years ago. they think it will actually help them organize within a state that has been a red state for a long time. the president turned it blue. barely. so the whole point of the big stadium, big rally thursday, bank of america stadium, and

here is to try to keep north carolina in play. and keep romney on the defensive here. >> all right, chuck todd. let's go to andrea mitchell. andrea, first things first, the key net tonight. about 50/50 in history. the keynoters we long remember and those who become political, julian castro, the older twin by 60 second, introduced by the younger brother. both brothers went to stanford and harvard law school. and importantly from texas, a state the democrats hope to convert from red through purple to blue some day. >> and to do that, the rising number of minorities and other, others, especially the latinos. the fact that these two men are going to be standing on this podium, the brother, introducing his brother, the keynoter. the brother is running for congress.

of course, his brother, the keynoter is the mayor of san antonio. they believe that these two men are rising stars. especially the keynote speaker. and the hispanic vote, brian is so key to, the re-election of barack obama. because he is overwhelmingly popular among hispanics. but he has to build that enthusiasm. they think they're going to do that tonight. >> deep in the heart of texas. the texas delegation here. nbc's ron allen. ron, this is their moment. we are second away. >> it is their moment, brian. they're surprised -- a lot in the delegation admit they were shocked when they heard the mayor of san antonio was going to deliver such a huge speech. they're obviously very excited, very proud. and they know president obama is not going to win texas, but they think this is the beginning of something. and they point out that the delegation here is about 30% african-american, 30% latino, 30% anglo.

tonight they say texas is showing what it is becoming, hopefully a purple state in their mind. a lot of pride for this local mayor who has the got a very big stage and some very big expectations as well. as we know, his story echos president obama's, rising from humble roots, single mother, harvard law grad, who exceeded all kind of expectations. another american story that they're trying to tell the american people about. brian. >> all right, ron allen in the texas delegation. before we go down to the floor for the keynote, david gregory, one more note on the importance of the state of texas to the democratic party. >> well, a state that's eventually they would look to become more fertile ground for democrats to take. this is where policy matters as well. you will hear from mayor castro. he'll talk about the dream act, positive, specific appeal to

latinos, a work path, not a citizenship path. these are the kind of policy steps the obama team thinks they can talk about tonight in hopes of making political gains down the road. >> let's go down to the podium. by a manner of 60 second, this is the youngerintro -- introducing his brother. >> my twin brother, san antonio mayor, julian castro. ♪ i have got the feeling that tonight is going to be a good night ♪ ♪ that tonight's going to be a good night that tonight's going to be a good good night ♪ ♪ that tonight's going to be a good night ♪ >> thank you. thank you. thank you.

thank you. thank you. my fellow democrats, my fellow americans, my fellow texans -- i stand before you tonight as a young american, a proud american of a generation born as the cold war receded, shaped by the tragedy of 9/11, connected by the digital revolution and determined to re-elect the man who will make the 21st century another american century, president barack obama! the unlikely journey that brought me here, began many miles from this podium. my brother and i grew up with my mother, rosie, and my grandmother, victoria. my grandmother was an orphan, as

a young girl she had to leave her home in mexico and move to san antonio where relatives agreed to take her in. she never made it past the 4th grade. she had to drop out and start working to help her family. my grandmother spent her whole life working as a maid, a cook and a babysitter. barely scraping by, but still, working hard to give my mother her only child a chance in life so that my mother could give my brother and me an even better one. as my grandmother got older, she begged my mother to give her grandchildren. she prayed to god for just one grandbaby before she died. you can imagine her excitement when she found out her prayers would be answered, twice over. she was so excited that the day before my brother and i were born, she entered a menudo cookoff and she won $300.

that's how she paid our hospital bill. by the time my brother and i came along, this incredible woman taught herself to read and write, in both spanish and english. i can still see her in the room that my brother and i shared with her. reading her agatha christie novels late into the night. i can still remember her every morning, as my brother and i walked out the front door to school, making the sign of the cross behind us, saying -- may god bless you. my grandmother didn't live to see us begin our lives in public service. but she probably would have thought it extraordinary that just two generations after she arrived in san antonio, one grandson would be the mayor and the other would be on his way, the good people of san antonio willing to the united states

congress! my family's story isn't special. what's special is the america that makes our story possible. ours is a nation like no other, a place where great journeys can be made in a single generation, no matter who you are or where you come from, the path is always forward. america didn't become the land of opportunity by accident. my grandmother's generation and generations before her, always saw beyond the more horizons or lives and circumstances. they believe opportunity created to day would lead to prosperity tomorrow. that's the country they envisioned and that's the country they helped build. the roads and bridges they built, the schools and universities they created, the rights they fought for and won,

these opened the doors to a decent job, a secure retirement, the chance for your children to do better than you did, and that's the middle-class, the engine of our economic growth. with hard work everybody ought to be able to get there. and with hard work, everybody ought to be able to stay there. and go beyond. the dream of raising a family in a place where hard work is rewarded is not unique to americans. it's a human dream. one that calls across oceans and borders. the dream is universal, but america makes it possible. and our invest. in opportunity makes it a reality. now, in texas we believe in the

rugged individual. texas may be the one place where people actually still have bootstraps. and we, we expect folks to pull themselves up by them. but we also recognize that there are some things we can't do alone. we have to come together and invest in opportunity today for prosperity tomorrow. and it starts with education. 20 years ago, my brother and i left home for college, and then for law school. and those classrooms we met some of the brightest folks in the world. but at the end of our days there, i couldn't help but to think back to my classmates at thomas jefferson high school in san antonio.

they had the same talent, the same brains, the same dreams, as the folks we sat with at stanford and harvard. i realized the difference wasn't intelligence or drive, the difference was opportunity. in my city of san antonio, we get that. so we are working to ensure that more 4-year-olds have access to pre-k. we opened cafe college, where students get help with everything from college test prep to financial aid paperwork. we know that you can't be pro-business unless you are pro-education. we know that pre-k and student loans aren't charity. they're a smart investment in a work force that can fill and create the jobs of tomorrow. we are investing in young mine tuesday to be competitive in the

global economy tomorrow. and it's paying off. last year, the milken institute rated san antonio as the nation's top performing local economy. and we are only getting started. opportunity today, prosperity tomorrow. now, like many of you, i watched last week's republican convention. and they told a few stories of individual success. we all celebrate individual success. but the question is -- how do we multiply that success? the answer is president barack obama. mitt romney quite simply doesn't

get it. a few months ago he visited a university in ohio and gave students there a little entrepreneurial advice. start a business, he said. but how? borrow money if you have to from your parents, he told them. gee, why didn't i think of that? some people are lucky enough to borrow money from their parents. but that shouldn't determine whether you can pursue your dreams. not in america. not here. not in the 21st century. i don't think governor romney meant any harm. i think he is a good guy. he just has no idea how good he has had it. we know that in our free market economy some will prosper more

than others. what we don't accept is the idea that some folks won't even get a chance and the thing is mitt romney and the republican party are perfectly comfortable with that america. in fact, that's exactly what they're promising us. the romney/ryan budget doesn't just cut public education, medicare, transportation and job training it doesn't just pummel the middle-class, it dismantles it, dismantles what generations before have built to ensure everybody can enter and stay in the middle-class. when it comes to getting the middle-class back to work, mitt romney says no. when it comes to respecting women's rights, mitt romney says no. when it comes to letting people love who they love and marry who they want to marry, mitt romney says no. when it comes to expanding access to good health care, mitt romney --

>> says no! >> actually -- actually -- actually -- actually -- mitt romney said yes and now he says no. >> no! >> governor romney has undergone an extreme makeover. and it ain't pretty. so here's what we are going to say to mitt romney in november. we're going to say no! of all the fictions we heard last week in tampa, the one i find most troubling is this. if we just all go our own way, our nation will be stronger for it. because if we sever the thread that connect us, the only people who will go far are those who are already ahead.

we all understand that freedom isn't free. what romney and ryan don't understand is neither is opportunity. we have to invest in it! republicans tell us that if the most prosperous among us do even better, some how the rest of us will too. folks, we have heard that before. first they called it trickle down, then they called it supply side, now it's romney/ryan, or is it ryan/romney? either way their theory has been tested, it failed, our economy failed, the middle class paid the price, your family paid the price, mitt romney just doesn't get it!

barack obama gets it. he understands thawhen we invest in people, we're invegs in our shared prosperity. a few years ago families that never asked for anything, found themselves at risk of losing everything. and the dream my grandmother held that work would be rewarded, that the middle class would be there, if not for her, then for her children, that dream was being crushed. but then, president obama took office and he took action. when detroit was in trouble, president obama saved the auto industry and saved a million jobs. seven presidents before him, republicans and democrats, tried to expand health care to all americans, president obama got it done.

he made an historic investment to lift our nation's public schools and extended pell grants so more young people can afford college. and because he knows that we don't have an ounce of talent to waste, the president took action to lift the shadow of deportation from a generation of young, law-abiding immigrants called dreamers. now it's time for congress to enshrine in law the right to pursue their dreams in the only place they have ever called home, america. four years ago, america stood on the brink of a depression. despite incredible odds, and united republican opposition, our president took action. and now we have seen 4.5 million new jobs.

he knows better than anyone there is more hard work to do. but we are making progress and now we need to make a choice. it is a choice between a country where the middle-class pays more so millionaires can pay less, or a country where everybody pays their fair share so we can reduce the deficit and create the jobs of the future. it is a choice between a nation that slashes funding for our schools and gut pell grants or a nation that invests more in education. and it is a choice between a politician who rewards companies that ship american jobs overseas, or a leader who brings jobs back home! this is the choice before us. and to me, to my generation, and for all the generations to come, our choice is clear. our choice is a man who has always chosen us, a man who

already is our president, barack obama!3 f2 obama es el hombre.3 f1 >> the american dream is not a sprint or even a marathon, but a relay. our families don't always cross the finish line in the span of one generation. but each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor. my grandmother never owned a house. she cleaned other people's houses so she could afford to rent her own. but she saw her daughter become the first in her family to

graduate from college. and my mother fought hard for civil rights. so that instead of a mop, i could hold this microphone. and while she made -- while she may be proud of me tonight, i got to tell you, mom, i'm even more proud of you. thank you. today -- today my beautiful wife, erica and i are the proud parents of a

3-year-old little girl, karina victoria. named after my grandmother. a couple mondays ago, a couple mondays ago was her first day of pre-k. as we dropped her off, we walked out of the classroom, and i found myself whispering to her, as was once whispered to me -- may god bless you. she is still young and her dreams are far off yet. but i hope she will reach them. as a dad, i am going to do my part. and i know she will do hers. but our responsibility as a nation is to come together and do our part as one community, one united states of america, to ensure opportunity for all of our children. the days we live in are not easy

ones, but we have seen days like this before. and america prevailed. with the wisdom of our founders and the values of our families, america prevail sd. with each generation going further than the last, america prevailed. and with the opportunity we build today, for a shared prosperity tomorrow, america will prevail. it begins with re-electing barack obama. it begins with you! it begins now! may god bless you! and may god bless the united states of america! thank you. thank you. >> there is your keynoter, the mayor of san antonio, texas. let's go down to chuck todd on the floor. chuck, other than proving, all over again there is nothing quite like being the father of a daughter. if one was looking for comparisons between this gathering and tampa, what jumps out at you? >> it is the passion that you see throughout the evening. the republican convention, you

saw it only in the last hour. it was almost as if they waited for the television cameras to come on. here tonight it has been passion, you hear the screams, the yells. and the passion here is for the president. on the back end, of course, for last week, passion was against the president. more so than passion for romney, brian. >> brief period of downtime on the floor. we will take a break. when we come back, the first lady's speech, live in its entirety from charlotte. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be cool if we took the nissan altima and reimagined nearly everything in it? gave it greater horsepower and best in class 38 mpg highway... ...advanced headlights... ...and zero gravity seats? yeah, that would be cool. ♪ introducing the completely reimagined nissan altima. it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites.

♪ [ "human" by the human league playing ] humans. we mean well, but we're imperfect creatures living in a beautifully imperfect world. it's amazing we've made it this far. maybe it's because when one of us messes up, someone else comes along to help out. that's the thing about humans. when things are at their worst, we're at our best. see how at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? prcandidate is more likely toion return us to full employment. this is a clear choice. the republican plan is to cut more taxes on upper-income... people and go back to deregulation. that's what got us in trouble in the first place. president obama has a plan to rebuild america from... the ground up, investing in innovation, education...

and job training. it only works if there is a strong middle class. that's what happened when i was president. we need to keep going with his plan. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. >> we're back live in charlotte. understanding a large number of viewers on this tuesday night have tuned in to see and hear the first lady. we're going to join what's

happening on the floor and just stay with it all the way through. this is a film, that convention-goers are being shown about the next and final speaker of the evening, first lady michelle obama. >> part of what makes her extraordinary is that she been able to continue to be down to earth even as the first lady. i mean she is just michelle. >> our friendship developed i think because we both have an interesting military family. when i met michelle she said what would be the issue you are most interested in? i said militfamilies. >> i said to jill, that's what i would like to do. that's where it all began. >> we have done three tours. it's meant a lot to our family during some difficult times just to know that there are folks in the white house, rowing in the same directs with us. >> whether it be helping homeless veterans through employment, trying to

incorporate the military culture into the school systems, helping spouses find jobs, that's all come together. >> she genuinely seems to care and wants to know what military families are going through. >> you all don't even ask for much, you know. so we should be able to step up in whatever way we can. >> 1% of the country is serving to protect the freedom of the 99% of us. my view is there a lot more we can be doing to make that service and sacrifice easier. >> she is so good with young people. she sees herself in them. she treats the young children the way she treats her own kids. they look at her as their mom because she is a mom. >> it is a natural for me to see her getting the nation's kids out there exercising and moving around. >> the best way to take care of yourself is to own your health. to eat better, exercise more. >> it is about the whole child. about understanding how a child

develops and how we can best put a child in a position to be successful. >> she wanted it to be fun. to come up with let's move, it has a great name. let's move is something we do together. >> she is a strong woman. physically obviously we all, jimmy fallon. ♪ >> i was wondering if you could do more pushups than i can do. >> it's hard! >> and i thought it wouldn't be good to show off so i stopped. >> i have seen a lead by example, a get right night, a pull up your sleeves, jump roping first lady. and i think that's what we need. >> hello, mrs. obama. >> hey, dave. >> the number one fact about gardening? >> with enough care and effort

you can grow your own barackoli. >> we harvest it, some healthy food, a lot of carrots. >> fruit. >> she encouraged us to exercise more and eat healthier. >> you really are a wonderful woman. >> the perfect wife for obama. >> i am barack obama, and this is my wife michelle. >> hey. i'm his date. >> family is everything. i think there is nothing more important to her than her children and her marriage and her mom and making sure that that all works well together. >> she was very clear, mom in chief. i heard it. you heard it. she came in with a very clear we are going to make sure our kids are okay. >> i think every parent thinks their kids are fabulous and remarkable and special. and my kids are fabulous and

remarkable and special. and the reason they are is because of michelle. i always say that, in our household, she is the conductor. and i'm second fiddle. >> you know, barack always gives me so much credit for who our girls have become. but let me tell you, our girls wouldn't be who they are without a man in their life who loved them deeply. >> what i love about my wife more than anything is she knows what's important. and she knows that the best and most important legacy of anybody's life is making sure that your kids turn out all right. they have good values. they're kind. they're caring. and what's very gratifying to me is that i know the girls at this point are going to be fine. because they have got the best mom in the world. >> now to introduce the first lady we are going to hear from

elaine bry, a mother of four children in the u.s. armed forces, in order, marines, navy, air force, army. her fifth child, you guessed it, entering the coast guard shortly. >> wow. what's a mom like me doing in a place like this? i am not even a political person, but what i am is a military mom. my husband and i are so proud of our five kids. one each in the army, the navy, the air force and the marines. our youngest is still in high school, and yes, we are hoping

he will join the coast guard. they are mom's most precious treasures. and i don't know when i am going to get them together again. because one of them is always deploying. but because of dr. biden and the first lady, our lives are a little bit easier. along with president obama, they have made helping military families a top priority. they have brought together the american people, including thousand of businesses, to become part of a nationwide support network. it is an honor and a respect in action. and it warms this mother's he t heart. last december, i wrote michelle obama a christmas card. just a mom to mom note to say thank you for caring.

the first lady not only read my letter, she invited my husband and i to the white house. it was an amazing experience. but what's even more amazing is knowing that our commander-in-chief and first lady are thinking about families like mine every single day. so, like i said, i'm not a political person, but i am a mom. and if someone is there for my family, and families like mine, then i'll be there for them. that's why i am so proud to introduce my fellow mom and our

first lady michelle obama! ♪ mother of two. 14-year-old, 11-year-old. as of today, a daughter in high product of princeton and harvard law school. >> thank you. thank you so much.

thank you. thank you so much. let me start -- i want to start by thanking elaine. elaine, thank you so much. we are so grateful for your family's service and sacrifice and we will always have your back. over the past few years as first lady, i have had the privilege of traveling all across this country. and everywhere i have gone and the people i have met and the stories i have heard i have seen the very best of the american spirit. i have seen it in the, the

incredible kindness and warmth that people have shown me and my family, especially our girls. i have seen it in, in teachers, in a near bankrupt school district who vow to keep teaching without pay. i, i have seen it in, in people who become heroes at a moment's notice. diving into harm's way to save others, flying across the country to put out a fire, driving for hours to bail out a flooded town. and i have seen it in our men and women in uniform and our proud military families. in wounded warriors who tell me they're not just going to walk again, they're going to run and they're going to run marathons. in the young men blinded by a bomb in afghanistan who said simply, "i would give my eyes 100 times again to have the chance to do what i have done

and what i can still do." every day the people i meet inspire me. every day they make me proud. every day they remind me how blessed we are to live in the greatest nation on earth. serving as your first lady is an honor and a privilege. but back when we first came together four years ago i still had some concerns about this journey we had begun. while i believed deeply in my husband's vision for this country and i was certain he would make an extraordinary president, like any mother i was worried about what it would mean for our girls if he got that chance. now how will we keep them grounded under the glare of the national spotlight? how would they feel being uprooted from their school, friend and only home they had ever known? see our life before moving to washington was, was filled with

simple joys. saturdays at soccer games. sundays at grandma's house. and a date night for barack and me was either dinner or a movie because an exhausted mom i couldn't stay awake for both. and the truth is, i loved the life we had built for our girls. and i deeply loved the man i had built that life with. and i didn't want that to change if he became president. i loved barack just the way he was. you see, even back then, when barack was a senator and a presidential candidate, to me he was still the guy who picked me up for our dates in a car that was so rusted out, i could actually see the pavement going by in a hole in the passenger's side door. he was the guy whose proudest possession was a coffee table he

had found in a dumpster. and whose only pair of decent shoes was a half size too small. but see when barack started telling me about his family, see now that's when i knew i had found a kindred spirit. someone whose values and upbringing were so much like mine. you see barack and i were both raised by families who didn't have much in the way of money or material possessions, but who had given us something far more valuable. their unconditional love. their unflinching sacrifice, and the chance to go places they had never imagined for themselves. my father was a pump operator at the city water plant. and he was diagnosed with ms when my brother and i were young. and even as a kid, i, i knew there were plenty of days when he was in pain.

and i knew there were plenty of mornings when it was a struggle for him to simply get out of bed. but every morning i watched my father wake up with a smile. now, grab his walker, prop himself up against the bathroom sink and slowly shave and button his uniform. and when he returned home after a long day's work, my brother and i would, would stand at the top of the stairs of our little apartment, patiently waiting to greet him, watching as he reached down to lift one leg and then the other to slowly climb his way into our arms. but despite these challenges, my dad hardly ever missed a day of work. he and my mom were determined to give me and my brother the kind of education they could only dream of. and when my brother and i -- finally made it to college nearly all of our tuition came

from student loans and grants. but my dad still had to pay a tiny portion of that tuition himself. and every semester he was determined to pay that bill right on time. even taking out loans when he fell short. he was so proud to be sending his kids to college. and he made sure we never missed a registration deadline because his check was late. you see, for my dad, that's what it meant to be a man. like so many of us -- that was the measure of his success in life. being able to earn a decent living that allowed him to support his family. and as i got to know barack, i realized that even though he had grown up all the way across the country. he had been brought up just like me. barack was raised by a single mom who struggled to pay the bills and by grandparent who

stepped in when she needed help. barack's grandmother started out as a secretary at a community bank. and she moved quickly up the ranks, but like so many women, she hit a glass ceiling. and for years, men no more qualified than she was, men she had actually trained, were promoted up the ladder ahead of her, earning more and more money while barack's family continued to scrape by. but day after day, she kept on waking up at dawn to catch the bus, arriving at work before anyone else, giving her best without complaint or regret. and she would often tell barack, so long as you kids do well, that's all that really matters. like so many american families, our families weren't asking for much. they didn't begrudge anyone else's success or care that others had much more than they did.

in fact, they admired it. they, they simply believed in that fundamental american promise. that even if you don't start out with much, if you work hard, and dupe wh do what you are supposed to do you should be able to build a decent life for yourself and an even better life for your kids and grand kids. that's how they raised us. that's what we learned from their example. we learned about dignity and decency. that how hard you work matters more than how much you make. that helping others means more than just getting ahead yourself. we learned about honesty and integrity. that the truth matters. that, that you don't take short cuts or play by your own set of rules. and success doesn't count unless

you earned it fair and square. we learned about gratitude and humility. that so many people had a hand in our success from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean. and we were taught to value everyone's contribution and treat everyone with respect. those are the values that barack and i and so many of you are trying to pass on to our own children. that's who we are. and standing before you, four years ago, i knew that i didn't want any of that to change if barack became president. well, today, after so many struggles and triumphs and moments that have tested my husband in ways i never could have imagined, i have seen firsthand that being president doesn't change who you are.

no, it reveals who you are.3 f1 you see, i've gotten to see up close and personal what being president really looks like. and i have seen how the issues desk are always the hard ones. you know the problems where no amount of data or numbers will get you to the right answer. the judgment calls where the stakes are so high and there is no margin for error. as president you are going to get all kind of advice from all kind of people, but at the end of the day when it comes to make that decision as president, all you have to guide you are your values and your vision and the life experiences that make you

who you are. so, when it comes to rebuilding our economy, barack is thinking about folks like my dad and like his grandmother. he is thinking about the pride that comes from a hard day's work. that's why he signed the lily ledbetter pay act, to help women get better pay for equal work. that's why he cut taxes for working families and small businesses and fought to get the auto industry back on its feet. that's how he brought our economy from the brink of collapse to creating jobs again, jobs you can raise a family on. good jobs. right here in the united states of america. when it comes to the health of our families, barack refused to listen to all those folks who told him to leave health reform for another day.

another president. he didn't care whether it was the easy thing to do politically, no, that's not how he was raised. he cared that it was the right thing to do. he did it because he believes that here in america our grandparents should be able to afford their medicine, our kids should be able to see a doctor when they're sick and no one in this country should ever go broke because of an accident or an illness. and he believes that women are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies and our health care. that's what my husband stand for.

when it comes to giving our kids the education they deserve, barack knows that like me and like so many of you, he never could have attended college without financial aid. and believe it or not, when we were first married, our combined monthly student loan bill was actually higher than our mortgage. yeah, we were so young, so in love, and so in debt. and that's why barack has fought so hard to increase student aid and keep interest rates down, because he wants every young person to fulfill their promise and be able to attend college without a mountain of debt. so in the end, for barack, these issues aren't political. they're personal. because barack knows what it means when a family struggles. he knows what it means to want something more for your kids and

grand kids. barack knows the american dream because he has lived it. and he wants -- everyone in this country, everyone, to have the same opportunity no matter who we are or where we are from or what we look like or who we love. and he believes that when you have worked hard and done well and walked through that door way of opportunity you do not slam it shut behind you, no, you reach back and you give other folks the same chances that help

you succeed.3 f2 que estén abiertas para todos. so when people ask me whether being in the white house has changed my husband? i can honestly say when it comes to his character and his convictions and his part, barack obama is still the same man i fell in love with all those years ago. yeah. he, he's the same man who started his career by turning down high-paying jobs and instead working in struggling neighborhood where a steel plant had shut down fighting to rebuild those communities and get folks back to work. because for barack success isn't about how much money you make, it is about the difference you

make in people's lives.3 f2 eso es el éxito. he's the same man -- he's the same man when our girls were first born would anxiously check their cribs every few minutes to ensure that they were still breathing, proudly showing them off to everyone we knew. you see that's the man who sits down with me and our girls for dinner nearly every night, patiently answering questions about issues in the news, strategizing about middle school friendships. that's the man i see in those quiet moments late at night, hunched over his desk, pouring over the letters people have sent him, the letter from the father struggling to pay his bills. from the woman dying of cancer whose insurance company won't cover her care, from the young

people with so much promise and so few opportunities. and i see the concern in his eyes. and i hear the determination in his voice as he tells me, you won't believe what these folks are going through, michelle, it's not right. we have got to keep working to fix this. we have got so much more to do. i see -- i see how those stories -- 3 f2 histori i see how those stories, our collection of struggles and hopes and dreams, i see how that's what drives barack obama every single day.

and i didn't think that it was possible, but let me tell you today i love my husband even more than i did four years ago, even more than i did 23 years ago when we first met. let me tell you why. see, i love that he has never forgotten how he started. i love that we can trust barack to do what he says he is going to do even when it's hard, especially when it's hard. you know, i love that for barack there is no such thing as us and them. he doesn't care whether you are a democrat, a republican, or none of the above, he knows that we all love our country. and he is always ready to listen to good idea. he is always looking for the very best in everyone he meets. and, i love that even in the toughest moments, when we're all sweating it, when we're worried that the bill won't pass and it

seems like all is lost, see barack never lets himself get distracted by the chatter and the noise, no. just like his grandmother, he just keeps getting up and moving forward with patience and wisdom and courage and grace. and he remind me, he remind me that we are playing a long game here. and that change is hard. and change is slow and it never happens all at once. but eventually we get there. we always do. we, we get there because of folks like my dad, folks like barack's grandmother, men and women who said to themselves, "i may not have a chance to fulfill my dreams, but maybe my children will. maybe my grandchildren will." see, so many of us stand here