First lady stumps for husband at Southern New Hampshire University 。

By KEVIN LANDRIGAN

Staff Writer

Aug.3, 2012

MANCHESTER – First lady Michelle Obama gave a spirited defense of her husband’s job performance and his personal story during an afternoon of political campaigning here Thursday. 

During two campaign rallies and an invitation-only fundraiser, Obama said the November election is a fight for the well-being of the middle class.

“Are we going to continue the change we have made or are we going to let all the progress we fought for just slip away?” she asked a supportive crowd of more than 1,500 at Southern New Hampshire University.

“We can’t do that; we can’t turn back now, right? We have to keep moving forward, forward, forward.”

Speaking from a teleprompter, Michelle Obama ticked off President Barack Obama’s accomplishments and plans for the economy, health care, education, immigration reform, national security and equal rights. 

She reminded those in attendance that the future of national health care hangs in the balance.

“Make no mistake about it – this November we get to decide,” she said. “Do we want these reforms to be repealed or do we want the people we love to get the care that they need?”

“That is our choice.”

She said her “It Takes One” campaign to get every supporter to sign up one more volunteer can make all the difference this November.

“Barack has said this election will be closer than the last one,” Obama said. “That is his only guarantee.”

“This election could come down to the last few votes, including right here in New Hampshire.”

Pam Brown, of Nashua, said she came down with Lyme disease several years ago and had to use her retirement savings for health care costs.

“President Obama had the courage to do the right thing and he has given us the Affordable Care Act,” Brown said.

Hollis businesswoman, veteran and breast cancer survivor Meredith Bohn introduced the first lady. 

“In all three of these areas, President Obama has come through for me and all Americans again and again and again,” Bohn said. 

She added later, “Wherever I have been, President Obama has had my back and I am proud to have his.”

Early on in the 2008 campaign, Michelle Obama was not visible on the campaign trail. Candidate Barack Obama subjected his two daughters to very few campaign events in the first-in-the-nation primary state.

Since becoming the country’s first lady, however, Michelle Obama has returned to the state twice to promote wellness, fight obesity and, on Thursday, press for her husband’s re-election.

She gave the same 25-minute speech to a packed fundraiser at the Holderness home of Gary Hirshberg, co-founder of Stonyfield Farm Yogurt, and at a rally at Laconia Middle School.

Hirshberg was hoping to raise $1 million at the event, which would be a record in the frugal Granite State. 

Obama said she and her husband both came from working-class backgrounds and learned how families have to struggle to succeed and care for their children.

“That’s why I married him,” she declared. 

Throughout the day, Obama did not mention presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney but instead emphasized that for voters this fall, her husband is a known quantity. 

“As president all you have to guide you, truly, are your life experiences,” she said. “All you have to lead you are your values. It is your vision for this country. 

“In the end, it all boils down to who you are as president, what kind of man are you, what kind of person are you and what do you stand for,” she said. “That’s that it boils down to. 

“And what I remind people is we all know who my husband is and we all know what he stands for.” 

She did allude to the 2012 campaign fight over the president’s plan to raise taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year, something Romney opposes. 

“We feel everyone should pay their fair share and teachers and firefighters shouldn’t pay higher taxes than millionaires and billionaires,” Obama said. 

And she listed her husband’s achievements for women: naming two females to the U.S. Supreme Court, granting free access under health insurance to women’s contraception and signing an equal pay for equal work law. 

At the close of each event, Obama asked her devoted followers the same question. 

“Are you in?” she shouted. 

GOP critics have mocked the president’s first campaign theme of “hope and change,” pointing out the last four years have seen the worst recession since the Great Depression, records deficits and debt. 

The first lady reminded crowds that by the time her husband took office, huge job losses had already started mounting. 

And she returned to the 2008 mantra. 

“Elections are always about hope,” she concluded. “They are about hope for our children.”