page_title: 2012 Democratic National Convention
section_title: Tuesday, September 4 – Julián Castro and Michelle Obama
hierarchical_section_title: 2012 Democratic National Convention / Convention activities / Tuesday, September 4 – Julián Castro and Michelle Obama
caption_attribution_description: 2012 Democratic National Convention
context_page_description: The 2012 Democratic National Convention was a gathering, held from September 3–6, 2012, at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, in which delegates of the Democratic Party nominated President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for reelection, in the 2012 United States national election.
  On April 3, 2012, President Barack Obama won the Maryland and District of Columbia primaries, giving him more than the required 2,778 delegates to secure the presidential nomination. He had previously announced that Vice President Joe Biden would remain as his vice presidential running mate in his re-election bid.
context_section_description: In the opening session on September 4, the keynote speech was delivered by then-37-year-old San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro. In his speech, Castro stated that "the Romney-Ryan budget … doesn't just pummel the middle class, it dismantles it...it dismantles what generations before have built to ensure that everybody can enter and stay in the middle class" and that "Now we need to make a choice...a choice between a country where the middle class pays more so that millionaires can pay less, or a country where everybody pays their fair share, so we can reduce the deficit and create the jobs of the future. It's a choice between a nation that slashes funding for our schools and guts Pell Grants, or a nation that invests more in education. It's a choice between a politician who rewards companies that ship American jobs overseas, or a leader who brings jobs back home...this is the choice before us … Our choice is a man who has always chosen us. A man who already is our president, Barack Obama", with the Global Post describing the audience as "adoring and appreciative" and the speech as "powerful words, and the audience responded with gratitude."
  First Lady Michelle Obama gave the final speech of the evening, stating that "Barack knows what it means when a family struggles...he knows what it means to want something more for your kids and grandkids. Barack knows the American dream because he's lived it, and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are, or where we're from, or what we look like, or who we love." Her speech lasted 25 minutes and focused on the Barack Obama she fell in love with as well as the strength of the American Spirit and those in the military. "I've seen it in our  men and women in uniform and our proud military families…in a young man blinded by a bomb in Afghanistan who said simply, 'I'd give my eyes 100 times again to have the chance to do what I have done, and what I can still do." Jim Rutenberg, of The New York Times, described the crowd as "electrified" by her remarks, "her impassioned delivery drawing the crowd to its feet."
  The speakers for the day included:
  Barbara Lee, Representative for California's 9th congressional district
  Claudia J. Kennedy, Lieutenant General (ret.)
  Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, New Jersey
  Bev Perdue, Governor of North Carolina
  Mary Kay Henry, President of the Service Employees International Union
  Charlie Gonzalez, Representative for Texas's 20th congressional district
  Nydia Velazquez, Representative for New York's 12th congressional district
  Pat Quinn, Governor of Illinois
  Doug Stern, firefighter from Cincinnati, Ohio
  Tim Kaine, former Governor of Virginia and U.S. Senate Candidate
  Anthony Foxx, Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina
  Annise Parker, Mayor of Houston, Texas
  Harry Reid, Senior Senator from Nevada and Senate Majority Leader
  Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader and Representative for California's 8th congressional district with the Women of the House of Representatives including:
  Rosa DeLauro, Representative for Connecticut's 3rd congressional district
  Carolyn Maloney, Representative for New York's 14th congressional district
  Allyson Schwartz, Representative for Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district
  Gwen Moore, Representative for Wisconsin's 4th congressional district
  Nydia Velazquez, Representative for New York's 12th congressional district
  Tulsi Gabbard, former Honolulu, Hawaii, City Councillor and U.S. House Candidate for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district
  Joyce Beatty, former Minority Leader of  Ohio State House of Representatives and U.S. House Candidate for Ohio's 3rd congressional district
  Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States (via video)
  Ken Salazar, U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
  Joseph P. Kennedy III, U.S. House Candidate for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district
  Robert Wexler, President of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace and Former Representative for Florida's 19th congressional district
  R. T. Rybak, Mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota
  Ryan Case, student, University of Colorado at
caption: Tammy Duckworth speaks at the convention
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