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Opinion: Michelle Obama: I am you and you are me

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DENVER -- Michelle Obama looks unlike any woman who has ever been this close to becoming the first lady of the United States.

But as she headlined the opening night of the convention primed to nominate her husband, Barack, for the presidency, she depicted herself as one of the nation’s everywomen -- imbued with love of family and love of country and a product of the good, old-fashioned, you-can-make-it-if-you-try work ethic.

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Introducing herself to some voters -- and seeking to end, for others, questions raised when she made her ‘first time in my adult life I am proud of my country” remark in February -- Obama stressed her adherence to values that Americans hold dear.

She mentioned the ‘American dream’ twice. Casting both her own life story and that of her mate’s as examples of ‘improbable journeys,’ she pointedly said: ‘That is why I love this country.’

And she added: ‘And in my own life, in my own small way, I’ve tried to give back to this country that has given me so much.’

There was no hint of an edge emanating from Obama. There was little mention of the particulars of her professional career; much mention of her parents, her brother and especially her two children.

It was, in short, a speech that the most conventional, tradition-bound first lady of the past could have comfortably given -- no doubt exactly what her husband’s message strategists had in mind.

The most replayed moment almost assuredly ...

... will be one stolen directly from the Republican handbook.

Ronald Reagan, just after wife Nancy had spoken, memorably appeared on a big screen in Dallas to send his regards at the 1984 convention that would renominate him.

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So it was with the Obamas tonight, though two young, cute children were added to the mix -- including one, Sasha, who stole the show by engaging her father in a running dialogue.

-- Don Frederick

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