Very first impressions of this Democratic Convention are that the Dems will succeed in changing the harmful character image problem currently plaguing Barack Obama or they will fail spectacularly, pulling out all the stops in trying to convince swing voters and Middle America that he’s one of them.

There will be certain “theme nights” at the convention; night focusing on the economy and on foreign policy/national security. But the underlying theme for every speech and every public moment will be that Obama is someone who is safe and who can be trusted, a candidate who, as Nancy Pelosi put it tonight, possesses “enduring American values.”  Madame Speaker even threw in references to Barack’s “faith in God” and spoke of his “loving family.”

This is all to paint a picture of security and comfort for not just Hillary voters, but all of the voters in the swing states or Rust Belt who consistently give answers full of skepticism to pollsters who call their homes and describe Obama as “different” in their local haunts.

This could very well be about race; hesitancy to put the past behind us once and for all and elect a black president. But that’s a mood that no campaign or party can influence, so you can bet the Dems will ignore that angle and pump up Obama’s values for the entire week.

That’s why Michelle’s speech tonight is so important - and why the reaction to it by swing voters is more important the actual speech. Michelle can only do so much, but she must be able to at least force the working-class grunts in Ohio or Pennsylvania, Michigan or Missouri, to acknowledge that Barack Obama isn’t all that different from them or even John McCain - right now. His past may be unique, but it’s where he has pushed himself, how he has reached his American Dream that makes him so similar to the common folk of this country.

It’s up to Michelle and Barack and the rest of the Dems up on stage this week to hone that message and make sure it spreads beyond an adoring Pepsi Center/Invesco Field crowd.

M.P.

Fresh from the Obama campaign, excerpts of Michelle’s opening night headliner speech. All about values, values, values.

She also spends a lot of time on her own middle-class story, an upbringing far from the “elitist” that some Republicans portray her as. Will she be able to sell it?

“But each of us also comes here tonight by way of our own improbable journey. I come here tonight as a sister, blessed with a brother who is my mentor, my protector and my lifelong friend. I come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president. I come here as a Mom whose girls are the heart of my heart and the center of my world - they’re the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing I think about when I go to bed at night. Their future - and all our children’s future - is my stake in this election.

“And I come here as a daughter - raised on the South Side of Chicago by a father who was a blue collar city worker, and a mother who stayed at home with my brother and me. My mother’s love has always been a sustaining force for our family, and one of my greatest joys is seeing her integrity, her compassion, and her intelligence reflected in my own daughters.”

“And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you’re going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them, and even if you don’t agree with them.”

“And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generation. Because we want our children - and all children in this nation - to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.”

“And in the end, after all that’s happened these past 19 months, the Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with 19 years ago. He’s the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital ten years ago this summer, inching along at a snail’s pace, peering anxiously at us in the rearview mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands, determined to give her everything he’d struggled so hard for himself, determined to give her what he never had: the affirming embrace of a father’s love.”

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Straight from the Obama campaign to PB’s inbox - and then on to you, it’s a preview of the themes and messages to be underlined during Michelle Obama’s opening-night speech at the Denver convention. The stakes are high…

Denver, CO – Michelle Obama will deliver the first headline prime-time speech of the Democratic National Convention this evening.  Michelle Obama will talk about her husband, Democratic nominee Barack Obama, the values that have driven him as a father, husband and public servant, and why she believes he will be an extraordinary president.  As the person who knows him best, there’s no one who can do a better job introducing Barack Obama to the country.

In her speech, Michelle will give the country a personal view of Barack Obama – her husband, and Sasha and Malia’s Dad.   She will talk about their life together, and building a family grounded in faith and values. The more America learns about this family, the more they’re going to want to send them to the White House.

Michelle will also talk about her upbringing on the South Side of Chicago.  Her story is a great American story:  modest means but big dreams—and encouragement from loving parents that she and her brother could accomplish whatever they put their minds to if they worked hard.    Like Barack, Michelle was also taught to give back to the community and the country that has given her so much.  Now, as a working mother of two young girls, Michelle is continuing to give back to the community and country she loves.

Like many moms, she’s learned to juggle the responsibilities of work and family. She knows what it’s like for millions of women who face the same challenges every day. She’s made a career of bringing people together and finding solutions to seemingly intractable problems in her community and that’s exactly what she’ll do as First Lady.

Over the last 19 months, Mrs. Obama has demonstrated a unique ability to connect with people across the country on the campaign trail and share in their American experience.  People have come away from her campaign events knowing that they will have a first lady who truly understands their challenges and is committed to helping women and families.

South Side Girl will preview Michelle Obama’s speech. Narrated by her mother, Marian Robinson, the film describes Mrs. Obama’s family background, highlighting her upbringing and the values that have shaped her as a mother, wife, daughter, sister, mentor and dedicated community service advocate.  Craig Robinson will then introduce Michelle, sharing his personal  perspective on his little sister, their upbringing and their family.