Mom-In-Chief Michelle Obama Delivers Lessons For A Playground Bully

Were you listening Donald Trump? America was, and the first lady brought down the house at the Democratic National Convention Monday night.

Michelle Obama at the Democratic Convention.

By Dennis Robaugh

America's mom-in-chief came to Philadelphia with a message for the political playground's cruel bully.

Michelle Obama never mentioned him by name.

She didn't need to.

And the words were clearly her own, they came from her heart and from her experience as a mother and wife. The first lady made clear what she and her husband value as parents and as Americans.

There have been many low blows aimed at the Obama family. Republican nominee Donald Trump has thrown his share. In 2011, he began banging the "birther movement" drum feverishly, like a bad little boy with an annoying toy, feeding the ridiculous suspicion Barack Obama hadn't been born a U.S. citizen.

At last week's GOP convention in Cleveland, delegates and speakers openly spoke of their belief Obama is a Muslim, not a Christian.

"Our daughters ... they are the heart of our hearts, the center of our world and during our time in the White House, we have had the joy of watching them grow from bubbly little girls into poised young women," Michelle Obama said at the 2016 DNC in Philly in a speech that may well be regarded as one of the most electric of this gathering. "I realized that our time in the White House would form the foundation of who they would become. And how well we manage this experience could truly make or break them. ...

"That is what Barack and I think about every day as he tried to guide and protect our girls from the challenges of this unusual life and the spotlight. How he urged them to ignore those who question their father's citizenship or faith. How we insist that the hateful language they hear from public figures on TV does not represent the true spirit of this country.

"How we explain when someone is cruel, we don't stoop to their level. No, our motto is, 'When they go low, we go high.' "

The choice between Trump and Hillary Clinton, the first lady explained, "is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four or eight years of their lives."

This 52-year-old mother of two sees in Clinton a mom who has "raised to perfection" her own daughter, Chelsea. She spoke with a verve and compassion her fellow Illinoisans have come to know so well over the last 10 years.

For more than a year now, the man now leading the Party of Lincoln has been the Great Denigrator on Twitter, hurling zingers and insults with abandon at members of his own party as well as Clinton, Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats. He's also said to be ill informed on the complexities and nuances of government policy.

For the first lady, those aren't qualities one desires in a president.

"I want a president with a record of public service, someone who's life work shows our children that we don't chase fame and fortune for ourselves ..."

"Hillary Clinton has never quit on anything in her life, and when I think about the kind of president that I want for my girls and all our children, that is what I want. I want someone with the proven strength to persevere. Somebody who knows this job and takes it seriously," Obama said. "Somebody who understands that the issues of our nation are not black or white and cannot be boiled down to 140 characters."

The relationship between Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton has not always been warm. Now, President Obama's legacy depends on Clinton succeeding him in the White House. And that means the first lady — cool, dignified and heroically popular — will bring every bit of charm, grace, persuasion and passion she can muster to get Clinton elected.

Monday night, she brought purposeful muscle to the stage. Damn the Trump-edoes, full speed ahead. Obama took a few shots at what many — including Republicans who've forsaken the presidential campaign this year — perceive as Trump's biggest weaknesses as a person and as a potential president.

"When you have the nuclear codes at your fingertips and the military in your command, you can't make snap decisions," Obama admonished, sounding very much like a mom on the playground trying to wise up a brash child. "You can't have a thin skin or a tendency to lash out. You need to be steady and measured and well-informed.

"I want a president with a record of public service, someone who's life work shows our children that we don't chase fame and fortune for ourselves, we fight to give everyone a chance to succeed."

Obama also drew attention to everyday heroes and heroics.

"Hillary understands that the presidency is about one thing and one thing only, it is about leaving something better for our kids. That is how we have always moved this country forward by all of us coming together on behalf of our children," Obama said. "Volunteering to coach the team, teach the Sunday school class, because they know it takes a village.

She took aim at the Trumpian dystopia central to the Republican campaign — that America has become a weak nation where people live in fear and despair, yearning for someone to "make America great again."

A campaign that thrives on the infatuation of a hateful nation.

"Don't let anyone ever tell you that this country is not great," the first lady implored in rebuttal. "That somehow we need to make it great again. Because this right now is the greatest country on earth."

The DNC crowd was electrified by Michelle Obama's speech Monday night.