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First Lady Michelle Obama fired up Sarasota Democrats during a stop in the area on Thursday.
Speaking to about 250 people at a private residence overlooking the bayfront, Obama made it clear she and her husband are ready to do battle to defend their record and outline their vision for the future.
Sure, the economy has been slow to rebound, but Obama told people at the $500-per-person event that improvements are coming.
“Over the past three years we have worked very hard to dig ourselves out of this mess and we have made some wonderful progress,” the First Lady said in her first major event in Sarasota since the 2008 election.
She said job creation in the private sector is up and the unemployment rate is dropping.
She then detailed a list of accomplishments that included the health care reform law, tougher rules for credit card companies to protect consumers, fair pay laws for women, and the end of the war in Iraq.
She specifically called on the Democratic leaning crowd to help spread the word about the administration’s accomplishments against critics.
“You all have to have our backs once again,” she said. “You have been amazing. But this is going to be hard. We can’t take anything for granted and we need everyone — every single one of you — to be laser-focused.”
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She added that she wants people to help tell ”the truth of who this President is and what he’s done for so many across the country and around the world.”
The fact the first lady was in Sarasota was a big deal for local Democrats.
“The first lady can choose to go a log of places and she chose to come to us,” Sarasota Democratic Party chairwoman Rita Ferrandino said. “It shows the significance of Sarasota.”
A Democrat has not won Sarasota County in a general election since Franklin D. Roosevelt. But Obama in 2008 lost the county by just 211 votes. Democrats have pointed to that number as evidence that the county will get a lot of attention in 2012 no matter who wins the GOP nomination.
Charles McKenzie, a longtime community activist in the region, said it was good to hear Michelle Obama’s positive message. At a time when the Republican presidential candidates are unleashing an onslaught negative ads about the president, it was good to hear the accomplishments, he said.
It’s the second time in just four years ago that Michelle Obama has been in the Indian Shores neighborhood. She reminded the crowd that four years ago, Caren Lobo and Dick Lobo, who hosted Thursday’s event, also hosted a fundraiser for her back then.
agree w/ajlind. she is a sad sack. hope she is out of sarasota and back to wasting taxpayers’ money as she and the anointed one have done for three years. moochelle needs to check her posture, have her horsie teeth fixed, and go back to her lavish lifestye at our expense. maybe barry hussein needs new golf clubs????? why would 250 waste their money to see her? typical dumbocrat!!! one term president!!!!! he has ruined our country.