Michelle Obama wants everyone to know that her husband gets it.
"The American people don't want much," Obama said to a crowd of more than 10,500 in Gainesville Wednesday afternoon.
"They're not asking for much. There is only one candidate in this race who is talking about the things that Americans need."
Obama, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, stopped in Gainesville as part of a tour through Florida to promote early voting and her husband's campaign.
The thousands of people who gathered under the hot sun in front of the Hippodrome State Theatre were the largest crowd Michelle Obama has received at a rally, beating her rally at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said Mark Bubriski, Florida Democratic Party spokesman.
Her speech emphasized that Barack Obama would help middle-class families deal with the burdens of health care, the economy and paying for their children's college educations.
"What we know is that the old ways of Washington just won't do," she said. "We need some new solutions."
People started gathering long before the rally began at 2:30 p.m.
As he waited outside the Hippodrome, Christian Mora, a UF finance junior, said he not only came to see Michelle Obama but to be inspired.
Mora said students are too apathetic but maybe rallies like the one Wednesday afternoon could draw them toward politics.
Lynn Black-Murphy of Melrose brought her daughter Willow, 7, and son Eaden, 8, to the rally.
"We wanted them to be part of the political process," Black-Murphy said.
Several politicians, including Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and Alachua County Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut spoke to the crowd before Obama took the stage.
When Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan got up to speak, she asked the crowd if it was hot outside before she ripped off her suit jacket to reveal a colorful Barack Obama shirt.
Eric Conrad, co-chairman of UF Students for Barack Obama, introduced Michelle Obama at about 3:20 p.m. She came onto the stage wearing a gray, sleeveless knit shirt, a blue, yellow and white patterned skirt, and a wide smile.
"So this is Gainesville," Obama began.
She told the crowd the campaign was proud of young people all over the country because of the enormous increase of young voters - as well as people she called the "not-so-young."
She told the story of her middle-class family - her father was a firefighter with multiple sclerosis - and said she and Barack Obama had met people just like them all over the country.
"That is the American story that we're fighting for," she said.
She concluded her speech with a reminder about early voting.
"Now it is time for us to turn this energy into real votes," she said. "Now it's time to work."
Alexander Karnazes, a political science senior at UF, said he was impressed with the amount of diversity at the speech.
"There's a lot of excitement here," he said.
Doschia Shade, 87, of National Missionary Baptist Church, said the speech showed that Obama could bring about change.
"It was historical," Shade said.
