i was thinking that she’d been pretty quiet lately and maybe they’d muzzled her…
First, she complained at great length that her husband had been treated unfairly in the Democratic presidential race. Every time he made a move forward, she said, “they” — she never spelled out exactly who “they” were — moved the goalposts a bit farther away from him.
First, “they” said he couldn’t raise the money necessary to run a big-league campaign.
But “once he proved that he could raise the money, then all of a sudden money didn’t matter,” Mrs. Obama told the crowd. “Everybody said, ‘Well, money isn’t important.’ ”
Then “they” said the test for Obama would be whether he could build a political organization. But “once it was built, they said it’s not an organization — the stakes changed again.”
Next, “they” said Obama had to win Iowa. But “once he won Iowa, then all of a sudden Iowa was no longer important.”
“They” had moved the bar again. This time, Obama had to win a primary state.
“Then we rolled into South Carolina,” Mrs. Obama said. “Then you know what they said? They said South Carolina didn’t count, because Barack was supposed to win.”
Then came Super Tuesday, and after that Obama’s stretch of victories in a series of primary and caucus states.
Still, Mrs. Obama complained, “they” tried to undermine her husband every step of the way.
“We’ve learned that we’re still living in a time and in a nation where the bar is set, right?” she said.
“They tell you all you need to do is do these things and you’ll get to the bar, so you go about the business of doing those things.
“You start working hard and sacrificing, and you think you’re getting closer to the bar, you’re working and you’re struggling, you get right to that bar, you’re reaching out for the bar, and then what happens?
“They raise the bar. Raise the bar. Shift it to the side. Keep it just out of reach.
“And that’s just what’s been happening in this race.”
All the while, the crowd cheered as Mrs. Obama listed one supposed injustice after another.
