Obamamannerisms

Today Michelle Obama came and spoke at the University of Wisconsin so I was able to skip class and hear her speak.
She's a fabulous speaker, maybe even better than Barack himself (he says "um" a lot) and she really rallied me up. She loves to talk about how Barack is someone we can relate to, he understands the issues we face because he at one point has had to face them himself. They both come from a working middleclass background and they are living the American dream. That's not really something McCain or his wife (especially) can say. This is exemplified in every aspect of her speech, but I even noticed it in my favorite part of her oratory skills: That her grammar could use a little work.
I think that it's wonderful that she makes some grammatical mistakes (something only my father and I would pick up on, because we're anal like that) because it says a lot about her image. By speaking like a normal American with less-than-perfect English, she is showing us that she is a normal person like anyone else, taking care of her children and paying back her student loans, and that was indeed a talking point in her speech.
Americans are obsessed with having a perfect leader. Why is it that every time something minuscule shows up in a politician's past, it gets exploited by the media? We forget that leaders are people too who make mistakes and feel guilty about them. I remember when people were freaking out that Barack did cocaine. Would it really change your vote if you found out that your nominee experimented in college a little bit? Apparently for some people yes.
Actually, Obama defended it well on 60 Minutes when this whole balagan started. He didn't deny it, he just exclaimed, “It’s not something that I’m proud of, but that’s part of the journey that I’ve taken. I like to think that by letting people know the mistakes I’ve made that maybe young people behind me are looking and saying ‘You know what? This is a guy who made mistakes and he was able to write his life and get on track.’ And that’s I think an important message.”
So Michelle (whether conscious or unconscious of it) has the same message in her speech mannerisms. By choosing not to have a speech coach who encourages flawless grammar, she is in effect saying, "I am a human just as much as everyone else in this country. I am proud of who I am and I will not create a false image of myself."

I also just wanted to post this picture of Barack because he looks badass: