Michelle Obama stumps in Colorado
Posted: Wednesday, October 01, 2008 4:16 PM by Mark Murray
From NBC's Jeff Hanley
Appearing at a rally at the University of Colorado today, Boulder, Michelle Obama spoke on the troubling issue of increasing tuition costs and debt. Relating current student problems to what she and her husband experienced, she said: "When you don't have the money to pay for your college, you take out these loans, and you come out so mired in debt, As Barack and I did... We just paid off our student loans ... and that's only because Barack wrote two best-selling books."
In addition, Michelle Obama talked about her hope for young American's to give back to their communities by "decid[ing] to walk away from big-paying jobs to maybe teach or work in the community." Michelle and her husband did this, but she also recognized an ever growing problem that "when you do [work in the community] and you've gone to great schools, you find your salary isn't enough to cover the cost of your debt... We want a president who knows that the importance of education should not be dependent upon whether you can afford it."
She concluded her remarks on education by stating her belief that "every single child in this nation deserves an outstanding education. That regardless of their race, or their gender ... or the property taxes or property value in their neighborhood, that they can go to fine schools."
Keeping the topic of Iraq and the current housing and bailout crisis to a minimum, Michelle Obama also said, "There is only one candidate who as a clear timeline for withdrawing our troops from Iraq. And most importantly, "ensuring [that] when those wonderful troops come home, they come home to homes."
The last topic of the rally -- an important one at a college campus -- was voter registration. Michelle reminded everyone that in "2004, George W. Bush won Colorado by fewer than 100,000 votes. Right now, nearly 170,000 young people are still not registered to vote [In Colorado]... with 170,000 students alone... it can change the face of this election."
