Michelle Obama: Reid a tireless advocate on behalf of women
Speaking to a crowd of 1,600 in Reno, first lady Michelle Obama focused on her husband's work attacking gender inequalities in both health care and the work place.
Her speech mostly avoided campaigning for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who invited Obama to speak at his women's summit and is facing a difficult re-election bid.
"And, of course, I have to thank one of my favorite people in the world, Sen. Reid," Obama said at the beginning of her speech. "Over the years, he has been a tireless advocate on behalf of women. This state and this country is lucky to have Harry Reid working on our behalf in Washington."
Obama has mostly avoided the political stump in her speaking engagements across the country. Today's speech is an "official visit," during which Obama focused on her husband's accomplishments and rallying support to end gender inequality.
"It's up to all of you every-day women to carry that role forward," she said. "What we're working toward is to ensure our daughters and our grand-daughters can dream just a little bigger and reach just a little higher than we did."
Although it was an official speech, the room had the aura of a campaign rally. As Obama worked the rope line after her speech, songs from the 2008 campaign played. She also joked that someone would follow her with a bottle of hand sanitizer for those she greeted.
"You all have a lot of work to do and we can’t afford for any of you to be sick," she said.