More than a thousand people packed into a chilly University of Pennsylvania quadrangle Monday night to hear first lady Michelle Obama tell them that sitting out this midterm election could stop progress for people struggling to stay in the middle class, afford college or get health care.
Obama spoke on the eve of Tuesday's election, in which Pennsylvanians will select among candidates for U.S. senator, governor and the state's 19 congressional seats.
With Pennsylvania's Democratic candidates trailing in polls for governor and U.S. Senate, Obama said in a 20-minute speech that digging out of the recession's depths is difficult and President Barack Obama needs strong leaders by him through the fear, cynicism and doubt that often dog progress.
“As Americans, we have always pushed past the cynicism, we have always kept moving forward,” Michelle Obama said. “And you know what? That is what we must do again today because there's too much at stake. There's too much at stake, and we have come much too far to turn back now.”
Pennsylvania's top elected Democrats, outgoing Gov. Ed Rendell and Sen. Bob Casey, also spoke, as did Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato and the party's nominee for U.S. Senate, Joe Sestak.
Specifically, Obama talked about new laws signed by her husband that expand college tuition aid to students by diverting money that once went to banks to provide federal loans, prevent health insurers from disqualifying sick people from coverage and cut taxes for the middle class.
In moderate Pennsylvania, which has 8.4 million registered voters, Democrats have a substantial registration advantage over Republicans of 1.2 million, thanks in part to a surge two years ago in support of Barack Obama's presidential candidacy from younger voters and minorities.
Politics
But Democrats are trying mightily to get those voters interested in the election and into voting booths to counter what pollsters say is widespread discontent with joblessness and a strong Republican reaction to the Obama administration's policies.
On Monday morning, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey addressed a GOP rally in northeast Philadelphia, laying out his argument for GOP control of Congress.
“Think about what they have done to our economy and to Pennsylvania in just the last 18 months or so: endless bailouts of failing companies, the government nationalizing whole industries, spending money on a scale that I never even thought was possible, corresponding deficits and debt that are completely unsustainable,” Toomey said. “You add in cap and trade, card check and government-run health care; is it any wonder we don't have an economic recovery going on?”
Michelle Obama, however, countered that the election isn't about what Democrats have accomplished in two years under her husband but rather about ensuring that the American dream is in reach for more people.
“We need you, we still need you,” she said as she closed her speech. “We need you to get fired up. We don't have more time. ... We need you to find all those folks in your lives who are planning to sit this one out, and you've got to tell them that they can't just vote once and then hope for change to happen. You've got to tell them that they've got to vote every single time.”
