Michelle Obama Gets Political With New Campaign Effort
As leader of a new voter mobilization effort, she is taking on a role that is rare for a first lady.
| Posted Thursday, July 19, 2012, at 12:00 PM
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Michelle Obama is taking on a unique role for a first lady, overseeing her own initiative in her husband’s re-election campaign geared towards revitalizing the grassroots support that helped Barack Obama win the White House in 2008.
The effort, dubbed "It Takes One," will focus on creating neighborhood campaign groups and other mobilization efforts by emphasizing the importance of voter turnout in an election that’s likely to be decided by a narrow margin, Politico explains.
"That one conversation you have, that one new volunteer you recruit, that could be the difference between waking up on November 7th and feeling the promise of four more years or asking yourself, ‘Could I have done more?’" she say in a three-minute video released Thursday announcing the effort.
It’s unusual for a first lady to take on this sort of initiative in a president’s re-election bid. The Washington Post explains the move speaks both to the lack of energy among Democratic voters, and to the first lady’s popularity (she's one of the most popular figures in the Democratic party, according to recent polls).
