Politics & Government

Michelle Obama: 'Roll Up Your Sleeves'

The First Lady urged her intimate crowd of about 120 big ticket fundraiser guests at Blue Hill Restaurant in Pocantico Hills on Sunday to get to work to help her husband win a second term.

 

This report is supplemented with Michelle Obama's transcript from the event supplied by the First Lady's Press Office:

Introduced by 's co-owner Dan Barber, to the Pocantico Hills restaurant on Sunday by thanking her host and calling the unique farm-to-table operation “probably one of my favorite places.”

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The First Lady held a brunch reception campaign fundraiser for her husband, with her motorcade of one town car, four trucks and two police escorts, quietly arriving just after noon.

In her remarks, Ms. Obama fondly recalled how she had once heard such good things about Barber that the couple flew him out to their home in Chicago in the midst of their first presidential campaign to have him cook them a meal.

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Their relationship grew from there, and .

But Sunday's speech was not limited to Ms. Obama's particular interest in nutrition and fighting obesity, rather the whole fight she was here to fund. The benefit was for the Obama Victory Fund, a joint fund-raising committee comprised of Obama for America, the Democratic National Committee and several state Democratic parties. 

Tickets for the event started at $1,500. One man waiting in his car on a long line at around 10 a.m., who wished to remain anonymous, said VIP tickets went for as much as $25,000. There are about 120 guests in attendance.

Ms. Obama urged everyone to not just sit back and enjoy the good food and leave it at that. Her speech was a rally cry to action.

"He needs our help," she said. "This election will be closer than the last one. That is the only thing I can guarantee you."

Ms. Obama said conversations with undecided voters can go a long way, and if you're in “one of these wonderful states where things are great,” go to a battle ground.

“I want you to tell people” was her repeated refrain as she itemized her long list of the Obama administration's successes thus far.

After a talk about the threat against middle class values, covering topics from education to health care, she boiled her points down to one question: "are we going to continue the change we've begun and the progress we've made, or are we going to allow everything we've fought for to just slip away? Because that’s just what's going to happen."

So I hope you all are fired up, because if you haven't noticed I certainly am.  [Applause.] I am fired up, and I am ready to go... I know that we can get this done.

The First Lady previously  along with the wives of United Nation dignitaries for a farm-to-table picnic. During that visit, Ms. Obama also met with area third-graders who had the chance to .

 

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