Michelle Obama’s Convention Speech Reveals an Anti-Politics, Calls for Civic Empathy
Daily Democratic National Convention Opinion Coverage in Sepia
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
During the middle of an impassioned public plea that Americans reject Donald Trump at the polls this November, Michelle Obama in a speech to the nation last night bluntly inserted: “I hate politics.”
To the observing public which has followed her closely over the years she served as First Lady, this sentiment is not new. Michelle Obama is morbidly repelled by the noxious environment that now functions as the venue at where we conduct the business of national public life — where momentous decisions are made on issues ranging from Medicare to mortgage policy. She avoids our current politics because she sees it as a menacing dimension.
In its place Michelle Obama embraces, what may be called, a pragmatic humanism that cohere with sympathies saturated with deep moral claims of fairness and community. It is a perspective woke to the realities of the suffering and the disadvantaged that must be attended to everywhere and all the time.
This is the brand of Michelle Obama’s anti-politics. It was on display as she made the opening keynote speech last night in the mostly virtual broadcast of the Democratic National…
