In speeches designed to fire up Democrats to vote in midterm elections, President Obama has at times described voters in his party as having a “congenital defect.” Wednesday, First Lady Michelle Obama suggested the problem might just be that they’re sleepy.
Mrs. Obama spoke at a rally in Philadelphia for the Democratic candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf. In an effort to boost turnout in November, the first lady told the crowd that she runs across voters “who are like, no, I ain’t going to vote, or I couldn’t wake up.” But she stressed that every vote matters:
The first lady wasn’t finished with the sleepy-voter theme. Later in her remarks, she expanded on the idea:
Mrs. Obama also told her audience that turnout was a large part of her husband’s victories, especially “women and minorities and young people.” Republicans, she explained, counted on “folks like us” to stay away from the polls:
This Friday, the first lady will be in Florida for a Commit to Vote rally with gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist, and next Tuesday will appear in Minnesota with Governor Mark Dayton and Senator Al Franken.
