Michelle Obama Delivers Headline Remarks at When We All Vote Rally 

Transcript of Michelle Obama’s Remarks for the When We All Vote Rally 

October 29, 2024

Look at you guys. Well, hey! Oh, my goodness, look at you all. Wow!

Thank you guys, love you so much. Love y’all so much. Alright, we’ve had you all here for quite some time now. We wanted to come to Atlanta because, well, we know y’all know how to throw a good party.

And hasn’t this been a wonderful evening?

I mean, I’ve been in the back, just watching everybody. It’s just so good to have everybody here tonight.

And I want to thank all of my friends. All the folks who took time out of their busy lives to come here to be with Georgia, to be here in Atlanta. Kerry Washington, Shonda Rhimes, Liza Koshy, Rita Wilson, Ciara, Victoria Monét, Blanco Brown.

My girl Marsai Martin and Kelly Rowland, DJ D-Nice, Ari Lennox, and of course, our hosts, Kalen and Lynae. Didn’t they do a great job?

But most of all, I want to thank all of you, really.

And we have just one week until Election Day — one week!

So, who’s ready to make their voices heard? Yes!

One week from tonight, all across the country, we are going to find out the leaders who will manage our cities and our schools and our neighborhoods.

We will see which ballot initiatives win out.

We will determine the makeup of the House of Representatives and the U.S Senate.

And I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but we’ll also be picking the next President of the United States, too.

Yes.

But tonight, I’m not going to get into any specific races or candidates — because that’s not what we do at When We All Vote.

We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit effort designed to change our country’s culture around voting.

And I started When We All Vote six years ago because I wanted to make sure that someone was reaching out to the folks who have been left out or left behind in our electoral process — particularly young people and people of color.

So, yes, yes. Our goal is not to tell people who to vote for — but to instead encourage people to get registered; to give them the information they need to cast their ballot; and to make sure they vote in every single election.

Every single election, not just presidential elections.

Altogether, we’ve mobilized millions of people; we’ve helped drive the record-breaking turnout in 2020; we partied at the polls; we picnicked with the Roots; we registered voters at NBA Summer League; and organized at schools, churches, barbershops, you name it.

So, I want to give a big shout-out to all the folks who put in the hard work to make that work possible.

I want to give a big round of applause to the When We All Vote voters, volunteers, staff, all of you all. Thank you.

And to everybody who worked on tonight’s celebration, thank you!

And I also know that we’ve got a lot of folks here tonight who are stepping up to make their voices heard for the very first time — so let’s give a big shoutout to our first-time voters! Yes! I’m proud of you all.

Now, all of you here tonight are the reason why I love this work.

I love you, I love your energy, I love your passion, I love your commitment to this country.

But I have to be honest: Sometimes I wish we didn’t have to do this work at all.

I’m always amazed at how little so many people really understand just how profoundly elections impact our daily lives. I’m astounded by how much coaxing and pleading it takes to get people to recognize how their vote is fundamentally connected to their own self-interest.

Because that’s really what your vote is — it is your chance to tell folks in power what you want.

Look, voting affects everybody — but it especially affects you.

So if you want your life and your future to look better, you gotta vote!

Because in this election, every issue you can possibly care about is on the ballot.

How much comes out of your paychecks in taxes; how much you pay at the grocery store; whether you can afford to ever buy a house; what kind of health insurance you have; who’s making decisions about your reproductive health; how the government will deal with AI; America’s role in the world. I could go on and on and on.

And look, I get it.

It can be intimidating and overwhelming to focus on these huge issues.

And I know life is hard — life be life-ing. Really hard.

People have enough on their plates just trying to get ahead or just trying to survive.

And there are so many distractions that keep us all off balance… so much disinformation flooding our phones… so many lies to keep us uncertain and afraid.

But I believe there are some deeper things going on here, too.

So many folks, particularly our young people, are struggling to find their footing in this world; battling higher levels of stress, anxiety, loneliness, frustration.

More folks feel disillusioned, helpless to effect change in their own lives, that makes them increasingly more apathetic.

And as a result, our priorities have gotten a little off whack.

We’ve got a lot of folks thirsty for likes from their followers, but uninterested in the needs of their communities.

We got folks excited to vote on reality shows, but not willing to vote for their actual reality.

Folks climbing up that ladder without thinking about who they step on along the way.

And don’t get me wrong.

There is nothing wrong with being a little ambitious. There’s nothing wrong with working hard to achieve big things in life.

All of us are looking for some level of autonomy and control over our lives.

But what I don’t understand is how so many Americans — of all races and backgrounds — fail to understand that a healthy, functioning, engaged democracy is absolutely critical to our ability to live life on our own terms, people!

Without a vibrant democracy, we don’t have any say in shaping our futures. We don’t have any ability to change anything at all.

Our vote is our voice. It is our power. It is the key to our ability to express ourselves and build the community and the country we want to live in.

And I know all of you here in this room get that.

But I know it’s not always easy to sell that message outside of these walls.

A lot of folks out there are wondering if the political system has their best interests at heart.

Folks feeling unheard and fed up.

Folks resigned to the idea that nothing’s ever going to change, that voting and elections don’t really matter, that the folks in charge don’t care about us, and that maybe the only way to get folks to listen is to not vote at all.

And I’m sure all of you have heard these kinds of conversations from the folks in your lives.

And to tell you the truth, these feelings are not irrational — they come from a valid place.

Look, I love this country to death, but we all know we’ve got a lot of work left to do.

And in this country, change takes not days but decades, y’all.

So that can be frustrating.

So it’s natural to wonder if anyone hears you, if anyone sees you.

It is healthy to push your leaders to be better, even to question the whole system.

But our job — not just at When We All Vote, but as Americans who care about our brothers and sisters — is to stop the spiral of disillusionment and apathy.

It’s our job to show folks that two things can be true at once: That it is possible to be outraged by the slow pace of progress and be committed to your own pursuit of that progress.

It is possible to be disheartened by what’s happening and still choose to do everything in your power to make it better — to speak out, to organize, to donate, and yes, vote for the person you believe is the best candidate for your goals.

See that’s what so many of our ancestors did — the generations who were isolated and denigrated and violated. Yet, nonetheless, believed Dr. King when he said that we can ‘hew out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.’

The folks who always recognized that no matter how bad things were, here in America, the primary road to building real power — or dismantling someone else’s — runs straight through the ballot box.

Look, I am not a politician… and I will never be — eva, eva.

But, for the past couple of decades, I have seen exactly how power works, y’all.

I have sat at tables with some of the most powerful people in the world. And let me tell you: A lot of these people sitting at those tables have absolutely no clue what your lives are like. Especially if you don’t come from money, or you come from a different background than them.

Many of them go their entire lives without ever crossing paths or having a single conversation with folks who are different from them — folks a lot like all of us here tonight.

So let me tell you something: They could not care less about your apathy.

In fact, they welcome it. They welcome it.

They are happy to be in full control of this game.

That’s why every single person who has real power in this world, they are fully engaged in the political process.

Every CEO and billionaire and corporate board president, they follow the news obsessively.

They hire lobbyists to fight for their interests. They donate to the candidates they seek to influence. You all hear me now? This is what I’m telling you. They donate on both sides of the aisle if it’s in their interest.

And you’d better believe that they vote in every single election — because they know how critical elections are to maintaining and building their power base.

And when we don’t vote, they assume that not only do we not care, but that we are happy to hand our power over to them. Happy!

And what a lot of non-voters don’t understand about real power is that our absence doesn’t make those in charge hear us any better. Instead, our absence is taken as our consent.

They take our indifference as part of their mandate to do whatever they want.

That has always been the truth of how this country runs: The process goes on, with or without you.

Decisions are made. Judges appointed. Laws enacted.

So when you’re talking to folks out there who are considering sitting on the sidelines, I want you to tell them about how this system really works.

Throw some history on ‘em.

Tell them about what happened in 1968. Yeah, that’s when I was a little girl. Y’all weren’t even around. In that election, folks were so fed up with America’s presence in Vietnam, they chose to not vote at all in that election.

Now, we don’t know if those folks would have swayed the election, but here’s what happened next.

We didn’t wind down the war, the U.S. expanded it. Thousands more Americans died on the battlefield, and many folks in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos were killed, too.

And then I want you to tell them about the presidential election in 2000, still many of y’all weren’t alive then either.

People actually thought a good way to pick our president was to choose the guy they’d rather have a beer with…a beer.

Like today, folks thought it didn’t make a difference who was in the White House because none of it really mattered. So a lot of folks chose to stay home. And barely half of the voting-age population cast a ballot in that election, by far the lowest rate this century.

And almost 100,000 people voted for a third-party candidate who had no chance of winning. Some voted for that candidate because they wanted to stick their thumb in the eye of the status quo.

That sound familiar?

Because they thought what difference does one vote make, right?

Well, the entire presidency in that election was decided by 537 votes in Florida. 537 votes in one state.

And as I said, the folks who win power take a victory of any size as a mandate.

In the years that followed that election, America chose to invade Iraq, which led to Americans losing their lives in that war for the next eight years.

The LGBTQ community was used as a political wedge, with states across the country banning gay marriage.

An assault weapons ban expired, putting weapons like the AR-15 back on the streets, some of which have made their way into our schools.

So if you’re talking to anybody who thinks elections don’t matter — ask them if any of those things do matter — war… social justice… gun violence.

Or maybe ask them another question. Ask them to list the policies that have been changed by people who didn’t vote. Ask them to name one single community that’s been improved by people who were uninvolved.

And let me tell you they will not be able to do it.

And if they respond by saying that they can’t trust the government or that all politicians are the same, ask them where they’re hearing that nonsense from.

Because the folks who are whispering that stuff into their ears, I guarantee you do not have their best interests at heart.

The videos they’re fed on social media, the algorithms on their phones, some guy on a podcast — those things are designed to make folks feel alienated. They’re run by those same people in power who want to profit from your distraction.

So y’all, you have a choice: You can listen to them. You can fold your arms and stay home.

Or you can listen to me.

And if you want to listen to me, here’s a warning: There are only a handful of very wealthy people in the world who can actually afford to be indifferent about our politics.

And they have so much money that for them, it doesn’t matter who’s in charge. They can keep themselves removed from the rest of us, up and away from whatever happens down below.

And most of us aren’t in that position, especially if you’re just getting started in your life or in your career.

Those who got regular jobs, the folks who weren’t born in this country or speak another language, those who look a different way or love a different way or pray a different way. You don’t have the luxury to be indifferent to who is in power and who makes the rules.

And for the young people, as the years go on, you all are going to be the ones left to clean up the mess.

Because I’m not going to be here forever, and I don’t want you all, our young people, to look up one day and realize that you don’t even recognize the world you’re living in.

I want you all to listen. Because now I hope you’re asking the question: How are you gonna make sure that that doesn’t happen? Especially for your futures.

How are you gonna make sure that those in power actually care about you?

And it’s not by sitting out.

It’s by using the tools you have to make sure that those in power actually see you.

That’s why we have you guys all together here, Georgia. Because the greatest power we have is influencing the outcome of an election.

See, in the end, what matters is community. All of this, you know.

And when we’re talking about voting, we’re talking about protecting our community. Protecting the people that we love.

And the greatest power that you have, in influencing the outcome of this election, is really figuring out your community. It’s focusing your efforts on your own camps.

Because when it comes to getting people engaged, when it comes to convincing someone to get out and vote, folks tend to listen to people they actually know.

I mean, that’s one thing we’ve really learned. Celebrities and famous people, they’re wonderful, and thankfully, we’ve got so many who are focused and they’re willing to come out and spend their time.

But you’ve heard it. Some people will tell famous people, “Shut up and sing. Don’t tell me what to do.”

So there’s only so much we can do for people who we don’t know personally. But people in their day-to-day orbit, people that they share a connection with. You can have an impact.

So I want you all to look around your own circles, the tables you sit at, the relationships you have, and ask those folks: What’s your voting plan?

So I’m talking about your families, your classmates, the folks you sit with in the pew at church, or drink mimosas with after church.

Who can you call while you’re sitting in this lovely Atlanta traffic? I want you to think about that.

It sounds simple but you’d be amazed by how many people avoid having these conversations with the people they know.

Nobody wants to have uncomfortable moments. Nobody wants to make things weird. I get it.

But if you can’t use your voice at the tables where you already sit, how on earth do you expect to have any voice at the tables where you don’t?

So, let me tell you: If y’all live like I live. If someone doesn’t have the good sense to vote, I don’t fool with them.

I wouldn’t pay – sorry, students – but I wouldn’t pay tuition or give gas money to a child of mine that wasn’t gonna vote.

And, fellas, if anybody was that clueless, I definitely wouldn’t go out with them.

So ask these brothers, ‘you registered?’ ‘You want to pull up to me? Let me see your voting card!’ ‘Did you vote early? You cute, but did you vote?’ That’s what I want to know.

So you’ve got to start by being willing to make things just a little uncomfortable with the folks you love.

We can no longer play games with the people in our lives. We have to stop letting one another off the hook for failing to be engaged.

And here’s the thing y’all: I guarantee you that once you have these conversations with the people who really mean something to you, you’re not going to harm those relationships.

No, that’s gonna make them stronger. You’re gonna become closer.

That’s how this works.

So, my advice to all of you: When it comes to getting people to vote, start close…start at home.  And then reach out further.

Tell everyone you know that here in Georgia, there are three days left to vote early.

All across the state, as you’ve heard over and over again, you can vote early until November the first, so just go to WhenWeAllVote.org to find the locations that are convenient for you.

And of course, as you’ve heard, you can vote from 7am to 7pm on Election Day.

So make your plan, Atlanta.

And if you’ve already voted, which I heard backstage that a lot of you have. So now you’ve got a whole week to build your voting squad.

I want you to reach out – you heard this – to at least three people — five to survive and ten to win — was that it, did I get it right…who might not vote.

Find those people — you know them. You know them! You’ve got a friend, I know y’all do, a couple of knucklehead friends who are talking about not voting.

You’ve got to find them and shake them up because you know how close this election is going to be.

Four years ago, the presidential race in Georgia was decided by less than 12,000 votes.

And when you break that down, y’all, this is the point you have to hear. When you break 12,000 people down across precincts, that’s just over four votes per precinct.

So these numbers that we’re talking about — three, five, ten — that’s real.

The same year in Iowa, there was an entire Congressional district decided by just six votes. Six votes!

That’s your group chat, that’s half your fantasy football league.

So maybe, just think about it, maybe you and your crew can decide the next Congressperson or State Senator from your area.

And since you have the honor of living in the great state of Georgia, a swing state, maybe — think about this y’all. If you go out and get a crew together,  you can decide who sits in the Oval Office. You can decide that.

The power is in your hands, it really is in ways that you don’t even realize. Not just in this election but in every election after because this work doesn’t stop.

The folks who are making it harder to vote certainly don’t stop.

You all have seen and heard about the shenanigans that some folks in this state have been trying to pull… the folks trying to make it harder to get your vote counted… the folks trying to allow a few unelected officials to wipe out the votes of entire precincts and sway the whole election.

And, thankfully, those rules have been overturned for this election. But who knows what’s coming for the next one.

So we have to stay vigilant y’all. We have to stay organized. And we have to stay engaged even after Election Day.

Because we don’t just need to protect our democracy, we need to improve it y’all.

And that’s a forever proposition.

And that’s the beautiful thing about this country — that we have always had the opportunity to make things better.

That’s been our story since our founding. A story that’s so often been written by the good people right here in Georgia.

So if we’re going to do our part, here in our time, we’ve got to stay engaged. We’ve got to hold our elected officials accountable. We’ve got to stand up and speak out and sit in when it comes to it. But most of all, we’ve got to vote in every single election at every single level.

Because these things don’t work if we don’t do them again, and again, and again. You can’t just do this once in a while.

That’s why we vote — all of us, all the time.

Because when we vote, we choose to push forward our own progress.

When we all vote, and we choose to bend the curve toward what we believe in.

When we all vote, we choose not just the trajectory of our city, our state, our country — we’re choosing the trajectory of our own power.

And I don’t know about you, but I think we have a pretty powerful crew right here in front of me. I am so impressed with you all. I am so proud of you all.

We are gonna hear from Georgia on November the 5th, aren’t we?

I want you all to stay hopeful, stay empowered, cause we always have your back. Michelle and Barack Obama, we love you all to death.

Vote early. Get all your friends to do the same. We can move our communities and our country in the direction we want them to go.

So let’s get this done, Georgia!

I love you all. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you! I love you, and you, and you.