Michelle Obama Stumps in Milwaukee for Burke

First Lady Michelle Obama visited Milwaukee’s Wisconsin Center on Monday Sept. 29 to rally support for Mary Burke as Wisconsin’s next governor.

Although Mrs. Obama admitted to having met Burke for the first time only hours earlier, she said that she “loved” Burke as a candidate for Wisconsin’s next governor.

“She is smart. She is in this for the right reasons. She cares about people. She doesn’t care about politics,” said the first lady.

The First Lady’s appearance took place in the midst of several controversies that have surrounded the Burke campaign.  Members of the Republican Party have levied a number of criticisms against Burke’s candidacy in the wake of Wisconsin’s Nov. 4 elections. Burke faces incumbent Republican Gov. Scott Walker in that race.

One critique lies within Burke’s decision to not appear alongside President Barack Obama during his recent Wisconsin visits in 2010 and earlier this year. Burke has joined several other Democratic candidates nationwide in requesting the appearance of the First Lady over the President for the 2014 campaign season. According to a July poll from the Pew Research Center, First Lady Obama leads her husband in approval ratings by 12 percent. Their approval ratings were 62 percent and 50 percent, respectively.

A second point of criticism regarding Burke’s campaign emerged this September, when the online news source, Buzzfeed, broke a story which identified several passages within Burke’s 2014 economic plan, “Invest for Success,” that had been copied word-for-word from outside sources.

The purpose of First Lady Obama’s Sept. 29 speech was twofold. The address not only contained praises for Burke’s past political achievements alongside calls for supporters to generate more votes for the candidate, but it also contained efforts to rally attendees in support of her husband as the 44^th U.S. president.

Mrs. Obama identified Burke’s statewide education program – aimed to close the socioeconomic achievement gap among high school students – as a success. The First Lady also spoke about Burke’s involvement with the Dane County Boys and Girls Club and her experience as Wisconsin Secretary of Commerce as proof of Burke’s legitimacy as the next Wisconsin governor.

“Mary knows how to create jobs,” Mrs. Obama told audience members. “[She knows] how to give our young people the skills they need to fill those jobs. And she knows that a strong middle class is the key to a strong economy here in Wisconsin.”

After dedicating about half of her address to Mary Burke’s campaign, Mrs. Obama turned the audience’s attention to her husband’s political career. She asked the audience to remember the national economic struggles which existed prior to her husband’s election.

“We were in full-blown crisis mode [in 2008],” recalled the First Lady. “Our economy was literally on the brink of collapse. Wall Street banks were folding. Businesses were losing 800,000 jobs a month… Less then six years later, our businesses have created 10 million new jobs. [That is] the longest uninterrupted private sector job growth in our nation’s history.”

First Lady Obama also spoke of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as a White House success. An April report from the U.S. Congressional Budget Office estimates that about 12 million uninsured citizens will have signed up for a health care plan by the end of 2014.

Mrs. Obama closed her address by urging attendees to convince at least 10 nonvoters to participate in the upcoming November elections.