How Michelle Obama’s masterful DNC speech countered Trump’s hate-filled rhetoric

In the last year, a lot of people – in America and around the world – have come to appreciate the Obamas. At a time when the mudslinging in politics has sunk lower than your average argument in a pub or in a traffic jam, Barack and Michelle have a been a study in dignity.

Despite outright attacks of all hues and colours on them, the pair has maintained their dignity, never stooping to the level of their attackers and nowhere was this more evident than Michelle Obama’s stirring speech at the Democratic Republican Convention in which she backed her husband’s former adversary Hillary Clinton.

While Michelle’s words have already echoed on the other side of the political divide, at the DNC, Michelle put aside past battles to make a stirring speech for Hillary. Without as much as mentioning Trump and his politics of feelings over facts that dominated the RNC, Michelle focussed on what kind of nation America would be for children.

Echoing the power of the American Dream, she sought to remind everyone that current inhabitants of the White House were the slaves of descendants, the same people who had built it in the first place. This was a reminder of the greatness of the American Dream, an America where you could rise to the very top through grit, gumption, hard work and intellect, irrespective of the circumstances of your birth.

Without mentioning Trump, the speech focussed on the rhetoric of his campaign, including the hateful language that dominated the television, and reminded people that America was better than this.

She also sought to play on the notion of Hillary being the most ‘qualified candidate’ to lead the nation. Michelle said: “See, I trust Hillary to lead this country because I’ve seen her lifelong devotion to our nation’s children –- not just her own daughter, who she has raised to perfection, but every child who needs a champion. Kids who take the long way to school to avoid the gangs. Kids who wonder how they’ll ever afford college. Kids whose parents don’t speak a word of English but dream of a better life. Kids who look to us to determine who and what they can be.”

Focusing on Hillary’s long public career and her ability to not ‘buckle under pressure’, Michelle said that in troubled times, this is what America needed.

She said: “I want someone with the proven strength to persevere. Someone who knows this job and takes it seriously. Someone who understands that the issues a President faces are not black and white and cannot be boiled down to 140 characters. (Applause.) Because when you have the nuclear codes at your fingertips and the military in your command, you can’t make snap decisions. You can’t have a thin skin or a tendency to lash out. You need to be steady, and measured, and well-informed.”

The speech also sought to focus on the dream of the founding fathers that all people were created equal, something she didn’t need to add Hillary’s opponent didn’t believe in. Looking to neuter the hateful rhetoric of fear-mongering she looked to focus on the positives from tragedies like the Dallas shooting or the Orlando nightclub massacre, reminding people of the "police officers and protesters in Dallas who wanted to keep children safe" or the people who lined up to donate blood after the fateful shooting in Orlando.

She said: “That is the story of this country, the story that has brought me to this stage tonight, the story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today, I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves and I watch my daughters –- two beautiful, intelligent, black young women –- playing with their dogs on the White House lawn. And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters –- and all our sons and daughters -– now take for granted that a woman can be President of the United States.”

With its focus on family values, children, inclusivity, decency and American pride, Michelle’s speech comes as welcome relief at a when the DNC e-mail leaks looked to further aid Trump’s march towards the White House.

Without taking Trump 's name even once, Michelle painted the different realities that would exist between the Republican nominee and Hillary pretty well. She also did a fabulous job by staying away from taking any pot-shots at Trump or stooping to his level, a reminder that people could be decent in politics and make their points without being nasty.

Rejecting the notion that there was a need ‘To Make America Great Again’, the theme of the Trump campaign, more than anything Michelle’s speech emphasised that America was already great and the only way to remain great was to 'Vote for Hillary'.

The speech did well to present the battle between Hillary and Trump as one between good and evil, between day and light, between inclusivity and racism and between positivity and hateful rhetoric. The message from Michelle's speech was clear, vote for Hillary to keep America 'great'.