The Pitt News
The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | September 29, 2016 | Volume 107 | Issue 36
About 3,000 students and community members came to hear Michelle Obama speak. Elaina Zachos VISUAL EDITOR
FLOTUS STOPS AT PITT TO SUPPORT CLINTON
First Lady Michelle Obama spoke at the Fitzgerald Fieldhouse about voter registration and Clinton’s candidacy | by Amina Doghri and Wesley Hood | The Pitt News Staff Walking out to Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls),” Michelle Obama encouraged Pitt students and community members to run the election, urging them to be the much needed “youth vote” Hillary Clinton has been trying to lock down in recent weeks. As students lined up to see Obama at the Fitzgerald Field House on Wednesday, a red-, white- and blue-speckled line snaked around upper campus. Donning Hillary Clinton T-shirts, stickers and buttons, about 3,000 students and community members
came to hear Obama speak in support of Democratic presidential candidate Clinton. In a dig at Clinton’s opponent, Obama told the audience to vote, even in the face of the negativity that has dominated the election. “Don’t ever let anyone take away your hope. Negativity is hard to sort through. Don’t let a negative candidate discourage you,” Obama said, referencing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Speaking just a day after National Voter Registration Day, Obama told the audience
they had a responsibility to vote in the upcoming election, especially in Pennsylvania, a contentious swing state. In 2012, Barack Obama only won Pennsylvania by 300,000 votes, she said. “That amounted to only about 17 votes per precinct. So if you think your vote doesn’t matter, it does,” Obama said. “Get out there and vote.” Erin McClelland, the Democratic nominee for Congress in the 12th district of Pennsylvania, came onstage before Obama
to specifically urge women in the crowd to use their political sway this season. “You are 52 percent of the population,” McClelland said. “You are the majority. You just have to vote for it.” Obama has been encouraging voters to support Clinton since July, when she first rallied in favor of the candidate in Virginia and announced her backing during a speech at the Democratic National Convention. Earlier this month, Vice President Joe See Obama on page 2