OFF CAMPUS
Michelle Obama talks to military families at Cedar Crest College
The Morning Call
Issue date: 10/2/08 Section: News
Wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, visited Cedar Crest College on Sept. 24. She was accompanied by Jill Biden, wife of Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden
Obama addressed a crowd in the College's Memorial Hall about the needs of military families, saying that they need a better support structure. She led a round table discussion with military spouses, remarking on how many of them are "working hard to do it all without the support they need."
Obama commented on the great resilience that military families show while dealing with the difficulties of having loved ones overseas. She continued to speak about numerous proposals that her husband would hope to enact in order to support military families if elected president.
Following her opening remarks to the crowd, Obama began her panel discussion with three local women from military families, Carol Reese, Kathleen Miller and Jill Slivka about the issues that they are facing.
Obama has hosted events similar to the one at Cedar Crest across the country in order to highlight her husband's campaign proposals for veterans. These proposals include creating regularity in deployments, providing more resources to military units' Family Readiness Groups, improving mental and physical health care for combat veterans and overhauling the Department of Veterans Affairs.
It is hoped that this promoting event and others like it will increase support for Obama among military families, as veteran affairs have not been Obama's strength in the past. An August Gallup Poll of voters on a national level who had served in the military showed Republican presidential candidate John McCain leading Obama 56 percent to 34 percent.
In regards to the war in Iraq, Obama accused President Bush of conducting "an administration that says, 'This isn't a big deal, this war isn't going to cost much, just go about your lives.' A lot of our families feel like they're going through this alone because the rest of the nation has been sort of implicitly told, 'Don't worry.'"
She concluded this statement by saying that her husband will "responsibly end the war in Iraq," which was received with a standing ovation.
Obama addressed a crowd in the College's Memorial Hall about the needs of military families, saying that they need a better support structure. She led a round table discussion with military spouses, remarking on how many of them are "working hard to do it all without the support they need."
Obama commented on the great resilience that military families show while dealing with the difficulties of having loved ones overseas. She continued to speak about numerous proposals that her husband would hope to enact in order to support military families if elected president.
Following her opening remarks to the crowd, Obama began her panel discussion with three local women from military families, Carol Reese, Kathleen Miller and Jill Slivka about the issues that they are facing.
Obama has hosted events similar to the one at Cedar Crest across the country in order to highlight her husband's campaign proposals for veterans. These proposals include creating regularity in deployments, providing more resources to military units' Family Readiness Groups, improving mental and physical health care for combat veterans and overhauling the Department of Veterans Affairs.
It is hoped that this promoting event and others like it will increase support for Obama among military families, as veteran affairs have not been Obama's strength in the past. An August Gallup Poll of voters on a national level who had served in the military showed Republican presidential candidate John McCain leading Obama 56 percent to 34 percent.
In regards to the war in Iraq, Obama accused President Bush of conducting "an administration that says, 'This isn't a big deal, this war isn't going to cost much, just go about your lives.' A lot of our families feel like they're going through this alone because the rest of the nation has been sort of implicitly told, 'Don't worry.'"
She concluded this statement by saying that her husband will "responsibly end the war in Iraq," which was received with a standing ovation.