Lady M loves Iowa.
And as fate would have it, I was passing through Iowa myself on my super secret mission, and was able to hook up with Lady M at the University of Northern Iowa in Ames to do optics for her commencement address at the University of Northern Iowa:
However, I had nothing to do with the speech writing. That was strictly in Lady M’s bailiwick.
"I want you to think of two words that showed this country that young people here at UNI have got what it takes," Obama said. "Those words? Ali Farokhmanesh."
Obama was referring to former UNI Panther basketball player Ali Farokhmanesh, who became the poster boy of the team's upset victory over Kansas in 2010 NCAA basketball tournament.
A basketball player? WTF, I guess.
Then we moved on to the de rigueur and always popular personal anecdotes:
Obama said she still carries a fondness for Iowa, which helped catapult President Obama to the White House after he won the 2008 Democratic precinct caucuses. She pointed to kitchen meetings in Sioux City. And the time a Pella neighborhood sang "Happy Birthday" to her daughter Malia, and when then-candidate Obama was given a hard time at the state fair for losing a carnival game.
Although she had to consult her personal diary, archived by CNN, in order to recall those events.
"While a campaign is what initially brought me to Iowa, what brings me back today is something so much bigger, so much deeper and so much more personal to me," she said. "You see, this state, the people I've met here and the things that I've learned here have all become an important part of my own journey."
This was Lady M’s first 2012 campaign stop in Iowa, and she peppered it with both local references and patriotic associations:
Just imagine, a small group of brave men, dropped by helicopter, half a world away in the dead of night into unknown danger inside the lair of the most wanted man in the world," said the first lady. "They did not hesitate, risking everything for us, for our freedom and security.
Since Joey B already let it out of the bag, she acknowledged the role of the Navy SEALs in the OBL mission, saying their mission was “the very essence of the word 'service.'” Butt unlike Lady M, they at least get paid for their service.
Lady M was so late returning from her triumphant campaign address in Iowa, that she barely had time to have her dresser select an appropriate outfit for Saturday night’s celebratory dinner with Big Guy.
I wasn’t there, (you can tell because I’m the only one who packs Static Guard) so I can’t say for sure, butt they don’t look like they had a very good dinner:
Lady M took Air Force Won Two From Ames back to Washington. Butt I continued my land route and will be arriving back this afternoon, at which time I’ll be posting a contest to “name that town” I stopped in along the way.
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