Michelle Obama brings change message to Seattle fundraiser

Michelle Obama brought her husband's message of change to Seattle Thursday, raising money for his presidential bid and for Gov. Christine Gregoire's re-election effort.

But when it came to Gregoire's campaign, Obama cautioned, "This election isn't about change for change sake."

And she added, "Don't change it if it ain't broken."

Gregoire's opponent, Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi, is trying to ride the change wave, too, by arguing that Gregoire has been in government too long.

But Obama, wife of expected Democratic nominee Barack Obama, said Gregoire's accomplishments over the past four years show she can deliver change.

About 1,600 people attended the $200-a-person fundraiser for Gregoire at the WaMu Theater at Qwest Field.

Michelle Obama cast Gregoire's campaign in the sort of broad, philosophical terms her husband has used in his historic run.

"The world as it should be is a world that Barack and Chris have been fighting for their entire lives and they are doing it in a way that we haven't seen before," Obama said. "These are candidates who are doing it person by person, block by block."

On the same day as Obama's visit, the state Republican Party distributed a video attempting to show Michelle Obama as someone who is not proud of America.

The video, mimicking one used earlier in Tennessee, replays part of a clip of Michelle Obama saying that for the first time in her adult life she was proud of her country — a comment she made last February in Wisconsin. The video then shows a series of women of diverse races saying why they are always proud of America and then reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Republican Party distributed the video along with requests for donations.

At the WaMu fundraiser, Gregoire gave a brief speech, trying to tie Rossi to President Bush.

"In fact, he is so enamored with George W. Bush he has named his dog W," Gregoire said. "I feel sorry for the dog."

Earlier Thursday, Obama spoke to about 150 donors to her husband's campaign at the Bellevue Westin. Gregoire introduced Obama at the event, too, comparing her to former first lady Jackie Kennedy.

"I do feel that spirit in Michelle Obama," Gregoire said.

Obama spoke warmly of her husband, revealing her first impressions of him when the two met at a law firm in Chicago.

He was a "hotshot" intern, she said, and she was assigned to supervise him. At first, she admitted, she thought "he must be weird" — in part because he was biracial and grew up in Hawaii. But as they got to know each other, she said, she found they had shared values.

As he courted her, she said, Barack Obama took her to a church basement for a community-organizing event. She was impressed at how comfortable he was in both a corporate setting and among blue-collar workers.

That event was the first time she heard him speak about "the mission of his life," which she said is to work toward closing the gap between "the world as it is and the world as it should be."

David Postman: 360-236-8267 or dpostman@seattletimes.com