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Philadelphia • Michelle Obama never said Donald Trump's name during her speech at the convention Monday night, yet she offered a more effective rebuttal of the Republican nominee and the mantra that animates his campaign than any other Democrat has been able to thus far in 2016.
One week after Melania Trump plagiarized her speech from the Denver convention eight summers ago, the First Lady stole the show at the Wells Fargo Center by poignantly delving into the sensitive subjects of race and gender.
Reflecting on raising two daughters under the glare that comes with living in the White House, Mrs. Obama explained: "We challenge them to ignore those who challenge their father's citizenship or faith. We insist that the hateful language from public figures on television does not represent the true nature of this country. We explain when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don't stoop to that level. No. Our motto is: When they go low, we go high."
It was a speech for the ages, overshadowing both Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders - who followed her in the 10 p.m. hour.
"I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves," the First Lady said. "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."
The 52-year-old's voice cracked with genuine emotion as she reached a crescendo: "Don't ever let anybody tell you our country isn't great, that somehow we need to make it great again. This country is the greatest country on Earth!" The hall erupted.
— She didn't need to dignify Trump by naming him. No one had any doubt exactly who she was talking about with these five soundbites:
"The issues we face are not black and white and cannot be boiled down to 140 characters."
"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 thin skin and a tendency to lash out."
"I want a president with a record of public service, someone whose life's work shows our children that we don't chase fame and fortune for ourselves."
"I want a president who will teach our children that everyone in this country matters. A president who truly believes in the vision that our founders put forth all those years ago, that we are all created equal."
"And when crisis hits, we don't turn against each other. No, we listen to each other."
— The speech reflects a remarkable transformation in Michelle's brand from 2008, when she at times caused headaches for her husband's campaign. "For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country," she famously gaffed in February of that year. That June, she fist-bumped her husband.
— It also highlights a Democratic strength that the GOP lacked last week in Cleveland: a star big enough to change the narrative of intra-party discord. At the end of a day that showed how angry and recalcitrant some Sanders supporters remain, the First Lady's speech went a long way toward wiping away the storyline of bitterness and disenchantment. "Collectively, Obama, Sanders, Warren and the night's other main speaker, Sen. Cory Booker, N.J., projected the kind of high voltage a political party needs when it is in danger of losing its focus," Dan Balz writes in The Washington Post.
— Notably, Mrs. Obama also twice vouched for Hillary's trustworthiness. That comes as a fresh Gallup poll shows 57 percent of Americans view HRC unfavorably, largely because they do not see her as honest.
— The First Lady's speech, with its warnings against complacency, may wind up activating the Obama coalition to a greater degree than President Barack Obama's will on Wednesday night. "In this election, we cannot sit back and hope that everything works out for the best," she said. "We cannot afford to be tired or frustrated or cynical. No. Hear me: Between now and November, we need to do what we did eight years ago and four years ago."
— The performance will only increase pressure on the White House from Clinton World to deploy Mrs. Obama into swing states this fall. She's been a reluctant campaigner in the past, and a Clinton campaign spokesman says they're eager to have her on the trail "as her schedule permits."
The Clinton campaign's path to victory is contingent upon running up the score with African Americans and women, especially educated professionals. In that regard, Michelle is the perfect surrogate: she went to Princeton for undergrad, Harvard for law school and then met Barack when she was assigned to be his "mentor" at a Chicago firm. She was an executive in the University of Chicago hospital system before he became president.
— FLOTUS generated more buzz online than any other speaker. Our analytics partners at Zignal Labs tracked 2.4 million mentions of the DNC on social media Monday, significantly more than the 1.6 million during the first day of the RNC. Michelle got 50,000 more mentions than second-place Bernie, followed by Booker, Warren and comedian Sarah Silverman.