Morning Spew

Michelle's Moment

9:11 a.m.

DENVER, Aug. 26--Michelle Obama did a skillful job of weaving her talk of the American dream from her ailing father, who went to work each day even as his multiple sclerosis deteriorated, to her husband's single mother and to her own life climbing the ladder from Chicago's South Side.

She did a skillful job in announcing: "That is why I love this country," obviously trying to erase her primary-season comment about being really proud of her country for the first time.

But from the point of view of nearly half the delegates here, the biggest grace note came when she mentioned Hillary Clinton, applauded, and praised the former first lady for putting 18 million cracks in the ultimate glass ceiling.

Michelle knew what her job was as the big-name opening night speaker on Monday: not just to humanize her husband, but to make the skeptics and doubters more comfortable with him. And, frankly, to make the country comfortable with someone who would be the first African American first lady. To turn her family into the Huxtables, as MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell put it. She ran the risk of sounding too melodramatic, but her tone -- well, let's just say it was far more successful than Teresa Heinz Kerry's speech four years ago.

And it was a brilliant bit of stagecraft to trot out the cute daughters to greet their father by video link from Kansas City, from the home of an ordinary family, not some huge rally. And while it wasn't exactly the Al-Tipper kiss, Barack Obama struck a humorous note by saying, "Now you know why I asked her out so many times even though she said no."

Michelle seemed warmly received in the Pepsi Center and drew praise from the pundits.

The challenge, according to Atlantic's Marc Ambinder:

"Hate to say it, but she has to appear normal, average and exceptional. . . . Many white Americans still have stereotyped impressions about black women and black families, and have very [little] hook to hang their minds on about the millions of middle class black families. Michelle Obama will help them fill in this perceptual gap."

The response:

"A relative newcomer to campaigning and the first black woman with a serious shot at first ladyhood, Mrs. Obama is a softer, smoother presence on the trail than she was at the start of the race," says the New York Times.

"Worried that Mr. Obama's far-flung upbringing and his lack of deep roots leave some voters unsure and untrusting, the campaign is essentially substituting Mrs. Obama's family background for his own."