Michelle Obama rekindles message of 'hope' to turn Arizona blue

PHOENIX — Michelle Obama rocked a packed, enthusiastic hall Thursday as she made a passionate case for the election of Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump.

Speaking for about 30 minutes at a Democratic get-out-the-vote rally, the popular first lady painted a portrait of the Republican presidential nominee as an out-of-touch billionaire, "living high up in a tower in a world of exclusive clubs."

Trump, she said, has had little exposure to the real 21st-century America and thus finds it easy to view the country through an us-versus-them prism that produces contempt for Americans "who are different than you."

And that makes it easy "to take advantage of those who are down on their luck, folks who play by the rules, and pay what they owe," she said. "Because you don't know them. You can't even see them," Obama said.

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Trump has a radically different vision of America than Democratic nominee Clinton, the former U.S. secretary of State and U.S senator from New York who comes from a different, more modest place, Obama said.

"Maybe that's why this candidate takes certain immigrants for criminals, instead of for folks who work their fingers to the bone," Obama said. "... That's why he thinks we should be afraid of our Muslim brothers and sisters. Because he really has no idea who they are."

The crowd enthusiastically cheered that line, one of several that drew a loud cheer from supporters who packed into the Phoenix Convention Center.

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While Trump is offering a vision "grounded in hopelessness and despair," Clinton sees that "each of us is a precious part of the Great American Story," Obama said.

Calling her "a policy wonk," Obama said Clinton has a vision of equality, inclusion, liberty and justice for all and has the policies "to actually make that vision a reality."

Obama cited the Clinton agenda that includes fixing the broken immigration system, making public college education tuition-free, paid family leave, raising the minimum wage and lowering taxes for working families.

"Hillary has well-reasoned policies to help people. Her opponent has tweets," Obama said. "You decide."

Big week for Democrats in Arizona

Obama's stop in downtown Phoenix was the crescendo of a big week for Democrats here.

It started with an announcement that the Clinton campaign would invest more than $2 million in its Arizona advertising efforts in response to polls that have shown the traditional red state in play this year.

To help get out the vote in an election that could swing either way based on turnout, three high-profile surrogates were dispatched to Arizona: U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont was in Flagstaff and Tucson on Tuesday; Chelsea Clinton was in Tempe on Wednesday, and Obama was in Phoenix on Thursday.

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City officials said the crowd inside the Phoenix Convention Center numbered 6,907. Several hundred were turned away because the room was full, after waiting hours in a line that snaked around the convention center.

Ron Mack was among the last voters to make it in. The Phoenix resident came dressed in a black T-shirt that reflected the frustrations he and other African-Americans have with police brutality. The shirt was emblazoned with gold lettering that read: "Dear Police: 'I am a White Woman.'”

“I’m here today to support a candidate that is more for the American people and they’re able to actually help the American people and not jeopardize any of the current situations that we’re in," he said. "I know that there’s a lot of turmoil going on and tension going on, and I think that this president, Hillary Clinton, can get it to the right places.”

Wants respect for women

Kellee Lemons 38, had tears in her eyes by the time she finished explaining why she drove her children from Tucson to Phoenix to hear Obama speak. Recently, she sat with her girls and listened to the first lady talk about Trump's lack of respect for women.

"With all of the rhetoric about inappropriate advances toward women and women being devalued, to me that's a big issue," Lemons said. "Donald Trump certainly doesn't represent my ideals."

Lorraine Newman, 70, came to the speech with her daughter. Though she said Obama’s visit is important to her African-American community, the most important issue is translating the audience’s enthusiasm for the first lady into votes for Clinton on Election Day.

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“I think that it’s extremely important that we be here to support Hillary because she’s our best candidate,” she said. “I’m one of her biggest fans. She’s more informed. She’s been a politician for a long time.”

A new Arizona Republic/Morrison/Cronkite News poll, conducted Oct. 10 to Oct. 15 and released Wednesday, showed that Clinton was supported by 39% of the Arizona voters surveyed, while Trump is backed by 33.9%. Another 20.7% of those polled hadn't decided yet who to vote for in the Nov. 8 general election.

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

Contributing: Dianna Náñez, The Arizona Republic. Follow Dan Nowicki and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez on Twitter: @dannowicki and @yvonnewingett