Story highlights
- Issac Bailey: First lady, uplifting and stern, calmed a rhetorical war at first night of Democratic convention
- He says she's remained classy, taken the high road; showed with her delivery she's unwilling to play games
Issac Bailey has been a journalist in South Carolina for two decades and was most recently the primary columnist for The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. He was a 2014 Harvard University Nieman fellow. Follow him on Twitter: @ijbailey. The views expressed are his own.
(CNN)Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night was akin to Whitney Houston at Super Bowl XXV in 1991 singing the national anthem. Houston's performance was a balm during a very real, yet far off war. Michelle Obama, for her part, calmed the tension in a brewing rhetorical war in Philadelphia.
And only she could have done so.
Issac Bailey
Her delivery was pitch perfect, her words uplifting and stern, all at once. She's the kind of speaker who gets it exactly right without seeming to try to.
The speech worked.
Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program
Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – In 2010, first lady Michelle Obama started Let's Move!, an initiative to address childhood obesity and help all our kids grow up healthy. Here she participates in musical activities with students in an event at Orr Elementary School in Washington in 2013.
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Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program
MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – The theme for the fifth year anniversary of Let's Move! is: Celebrate, challenge, champion. The first lady joins in at the Healthy Kids Fair on the South Lawn of the White House in 2009.
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Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program
MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – Across America, cities, towns and counties are supporting healthy afters-school programs and youth sports leagues. Here kids attend a Let's Move! event at Woldenberg Park in New Orleans in 2010.
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Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program
MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – Through the initiative, millions of kids are attending healthier day care centers, where fruits and vegetables have replaced cookies and juice. Michelle Obama speaks at a Let's Move! Walmart announcement at The Arc in Washington in 2010.
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Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program
MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – Nearly 9 million kids participate in the Let's Move! Active Schools program and get 60 minutes of physical activity a day. Nearly 5 million kids will be attending healthier after-school programs in the next five years. The first lady meets with students in New Hampshire Estates Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland, in 2010.
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Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program
MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – The first lady speaks about Let's Move! at the Visitors Center in Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, in 2010.
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Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program
MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – Childhood obesity rates have finally stopped rising -- and obesity rates are actually falling among our youngest children, according to Let's Move! initiative. The first lady attends the White House Kitchen Garden harvest on the South Lawn in 2010.
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Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program
MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – While Let's Move! has made strides in helping kids become healthy, the statistics are still daunting. Here she attends a partnership event with Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals players on the South Lawn of the White House in 2011.
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Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program
MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – First lady Michelle Obama and Ellen DeGeneres dance during a taping of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" marking the second anniversary of Let's Move! in Burbank, California, in 2012.
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Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program
MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – America still spends nearly $200 billion a year on obesity-related health care costs, and that figure will jump to nearly $350 billion a year by 2018, according to Let's Move! campaign. Michelle Obama visits the Fresh Grocer store in Philadelphia in 2010.
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Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program
MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – The first lady attends a chef's demonstration with third-grade students from Pocantico Hill School and John F. Kennedy Magnet School, before a luncheon at Blue Hill Farm in Pocantico Hills, New York, in 2010.
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Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program
MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – First lady says she is committed to giving kids the healthy futures they deserve. Here she works with chefs and students in the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn in 2010.
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It worked particularly because it was Michelle Obama, a first lady who was pilloried by the right during the 2008 election cycle for expressing mixed emotions, shared by most African-Americans, about a country that made slaves build the White House and only allowed in families like hers -- whose roots stretch to a plantation in South Carolina -- to clean up the place. Certainly not to represent the world's most powerful nation, even as it professed all were equal.
It worked because she stood tall during that campaign -- and ever since -- remaining classy and strong, even as critics attacked her Americanism, and her husband's.
Michelle Obama: America is greatest country on Earth 01:19
It worked because Michelle Obama has an edge that could have only been cultivated by living the life she has lived, one spent overcoming whatever barriers and slights have come her way to come out on top anyway. She was not born into wealth and privilege.
"How we insist that the hateful language [our daughters] hear from public figures on TV does not represent the true spirit of this country. How we explain that when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don't stoop to their level. No, our motto is, 'When they go low, we go high.'"
It worked because Michelle Obama was there, and watched Hillary Clinton swallow her pride in 2008 and help Michelle's husband become President after a bruising, sometimes dishonorable campaign fight.
Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party's presidential nominee, takes the stage before giving a speech Thursday at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Clinton walks on stage with her running mate, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine.
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Balloons fall from the ceiling of the Wells Fargo Center after Clinton's speech.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Clinton arrives for her speech.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
During her speech, Clinton ripped into Republican nominee Donald Trump for his convention pitch "I alone can fix it." She said: "He's forgetting every last one of us. Americans don't say: 'I alone can fix it.' We say: 'We'll fix it together.' "
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Clinton acknowledges the crowd before her speech.
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Clinton's husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, applauds along with their daughter, Chelsea.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Clinton is the first woman in U.S. history to lead the presidential ticket of a major political party. "It's true," she said in her speech, "I sweat the details of policy -- whether we're talking about the exact level of lead in the drinking water in Flint, Michigan; the number of mental health facilities in Iowa; or the cost of your prescription drugs. ... Because it's not just a detail if it's your kid, if it's your family. It's a big deal. And it should be a big deal to your President."
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Clinton gives a thumbs-up to the crowd.
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Clinton embraces her daughter before speaking.
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Bill Clinton becomes emotional Thursday as he listens to Chelsea introduce her mother.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Chelsea Clinton said her mother is a "listener and a doer, a woman driven by compassion, by faith, by kindness, a fierce sense of justice, and a heart full of love."
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Singer Katy Perry performs "Rise" on Thursday.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Khizr Khan holds his personal copy of the U.S. Constitution as he speaks Thursday. His son, Humayun S. M. Khan, was one of the 14 American Muslims who have died serving their country since 9/11. In his remarks, Khan criticized the Republican nominee: "If it was up to Donald Trump, (my son) never would have been in America. ... Donald Trump, you are asking Americans to trust you with our future. Let me ask you: Have you even read the U.S. Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy."
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar talks at the convention on Thursday.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi speaks to the crowd at the Wells Fargo Center.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Delegates cheer on Thursday.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
LGBT rights activist Sarah McBride takes the stage.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Delegates hold up signs in support of presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Clinton and U.S. President Barack Obama wave to the crowd Wednesday after Obama gave a speech.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Obama and Clinton hug after Obama's speech.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Obama and Clinton acknowledge the crowd.
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Clinton points to Obama as she walks on stage after his speech.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Delegates stand as Obama speaks.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
"This year, in this election, I'm asking you to join me -- to reject cynicism, reject fear, to summon what's best in us; to elect Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States, and show the world we still believe in the promise of this great nation," Obama said.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Obama told the crowd at the Wells Fargo Center that he is "more optimistic about the future of America than ever before." He contrasted it with the "pessimistic vision" of America he heard during the Republican convention last week. "There were no serious solutions to pressing problems -- just the fanning of resentment, and blame, and anger, and hate," he said.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Obama said Clinton is more ready than he was to become President. "For four years, I had a front-row seat to her intelligence, her judgment and her discipline," Obama said, referring to her stint as secretary of state.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
The crowd welcomes Obama.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Clinton's running mate, Tim Kaine, waves to the crowd along with his wife, Anne Holton, after giving a speech on Wednesday.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
During his speech, Kaine said: "Hillary Clinton and I are compañeros del alma. We share this belief: Do all the good you can. And serve one another. Pretty simple. That's what I'm about. That's what you're about. That's what Bernie Sanders is about. That's what Joe Biden is about. That's what Barack and Michelle Obama are about. And that's what Hillary Clinton is about."
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Delegates hold posters during Kaine's speech.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Kaine comes out to the stage on Wednesday.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, right, cheers during the speech of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
"I understand the appeal of a businessman President. But Trump's business plan is a disaster in the making," said Bloomberg, an independent. He said the Republican nominee is a "risky, reckless, and radical choice."
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden also went after Trump, saying "this guy doesn't have a clue about the middle class -- not a clue. Actually, he has no clue, period."
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Biden walks to the podium before delivering his speech.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
A delegate wears a Bernie Sanders mask on Wednesday. Sanders finished second to Clinton in the presidential primaries.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Broadway performers sing "What the World Needs Now Is Love" on Wednesday.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords waves to the audience before speaking on Wednesday.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
People hold up prints that pay respect to those who were killed in the Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting of June 2015. Two survivors of the shooting were speaking to the crowd.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
A delegate wears stickers in support of Clinton.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is escorted to the podium by his wife, Landra, on Wednesday.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Clinton appears live on a video screen Tuesday night. Just a few hours earlier, she officially became the party's presidential nominee. She is the first woman to lead a major party's presidential ticket. "I can't believe we just put the biggest crack in that glass ceiling yet," she told the crowd.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Actress Meryl Streep addresses the crowd before Clinton's video message. Streep said Clinton will be the first female President of the United States, "but she won't be the last."
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton waves to the crowd before giving a speech on Tuesday.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
The former President told the crowd about how he met his wife for the first time. He also called her "the best damn change-maker I've ever met in my entire life."
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Bill Clinton arrives on stage to give his speech. In his speech, he portrayed his wife as a woman who tirelessly ran a family and a career. "She always wants to move the ball forward," he said. "That is just who she is."
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Former U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright waves to the crowd after speaking on Tuesday.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean re-enacts his infamous "Dean Scream" during his speech.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Actresses America Ferrera, right, and Lena Dunham walk on stage to deliver remarks.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Florida delegate Bernard Jennings holds a cardboard cutout of Hillary Clinton over the face of his young son Ethan on Tuesday.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
"Mothers of the Movement" -- mothers whose unarmed children have been killed by law enforcement or due to gun violence -- take the stage Tuesday.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Actress Elizabeth Banks walks onto the stage Tuesday.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders waves to the crowd after the Vermont delegation cast its roll-call votes Tuesday.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Sanders smiles while attending roll call. He moved to name Clinton the official nominee.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
The crowd cheers after Clinton was formally nominated.
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A delegate cries during the roll-call vote Tuesday.
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A staff member tallies Alabama's votes during roll call on Tuesday.
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Delegates hold up signs referring to Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, the running mate of Republican nominee Donald Trump.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Sanders delivers the headline speech on Monday. "I understand that many people here in this convention hall and around the country are disappointed about the final results of the nominating process," Sanders said. "I think it's fair to say that no one is more disappointed than I am. But to all of our supporters -- here and around the country -- I hope you take enormous pride in the historical accomplishments we have achieved."
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Sanders spoke out against Republican nominee Donald Trump and said Clinton must become President. "If you don't believe this election is important, if you think you can sit it out, take a moment to think about the Supreme Court justices that Donald Trump would nominate and what that would mean to civil liberties, equal rights and the future of our country," Sanders said.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Sanders acknowledges the crowd at the Wells Fargo Center.
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U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren talks to the crowd in Philadelphia. "We are not going to be Donald Trump's hate-filled America," she said. "Not now. Not ever."
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
First lady Michelle Obama gives a speech. "This election -- every election -- is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four or eight years of our lives," she said. "And I am here tonight because in this election, there is only one person who I trust with that responsibility -- only one person who I believe is truly qualified to be President of the United States. And that is our friend, Hillary Clinton."
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Obama waves to the crowd.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
In his speech Monday, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker included a message about togetherness. "Patriotism is love of country. But you can't love your country without loving your countrymen and countrywomen," he said.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Singer Paul Simon performs "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
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Delegates hold up signs Monday.
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U.S. Sen. Al Franken appears on stage with comedian Sarah Silverman. Franken, of course, has a comedic background as well, having once starred on "Saturday Night Live."
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Anastasia Somoza, an advocate for people with disabilities, comes out to speak.
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Former pro basketball players Jason Collins, left, and Jarron Collins wave to the crowd. Jason Collins, the first openly gay player in the NBA, said he told the Clintons about his sexual orientation before coming out publicly.
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A delegate wears a pin showing her support of Clinton.
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Delegates hold signs reading "Love trumps hate" on Monday.
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A delegate supports Sanders at the convention.
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Tape on a delegate's mouth makes a statement Monday about the Democratic National Committee. Recently leaked committee emails appeared to show favoritism toward Clinton in the primary race, and many Sanders supporters entered the convention upset. The controversy has caused Debbie Wasserman Schultz to step down as the committee's chairwoman at the end of the convention.
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Photos: The Democratic National Convention
Members of the media stand during the event.
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It worked, frankly, because even the most animated Bernie Sanders supporters, who had been hooting and hollering all night, Monday night in Philadelphia knew there would have been a price to pay if they disrespected this particular first lady. They may have felt emboldened to boo through a prayer, shout "Lock her up" at the mention of Hillary Clinton's name, as though they were in Cleveland, and even make noise during Elizabeth Warren's speech.
Heck, they may even boo (a little) President Obama when he speaks later this week, because of his support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, they are that committed to their cause. But Michelle Obama is as beloved by Democrats as Laura Bush was adored by Republicans. To have undermined her would have been worse than the political suicide Ted Cruz committed last week. Her speech worked because she understood the importance of the moment and easily rose to meet it.
It is said that she has no designs on a future in politics. Maybe that's why she was so effortless on stage. Because she knew she had no reason to play games, so she didn't play any games at all.
And the crowd knew it.
