Gov. Sebelius Speaks on Behalf of Obama

FormerKansas governor Kathleen Sebelius visited the Obama headquarters in Portsmouth on Friday, Sept. 28 to lend her support to the President's campaign. About 60 people were on hand to greet Sebelius and listen to her remarks.

Sebelius was born in Ohio where her father Jack Gilligan served as governor from 1971 to 1975. She spent most of her adult life in Kansas where she was elected governor in 2002 and again in 2006. Sebelius and her father represent the only father-daughter pair ever to serve as state governors.

Part of any speech are the speaker's appearance and the manner in which the person presents him or herself.

Sebelius looks like a figure drawn by the famous Spanish painter El Greco. El Greco's works feature elongated figures, and that is exactly the impression Sebelius projects. She has a long, narrow face, a shock of well-coiffed white hair, and a slim body. I asked my wife how tall Sebelius is. She guessed 5 foot 8 inches. Her aide said she is 5 foot 4 inches. Her slender body creates the illusion of height.

Sebelius acts like a Midwesterner. She goes about her task of speaking in a no nonsense, workmanlike fashion without attempting to promote herself. When Joe Biden speaks, he gives a dramatic performance at the end of which the audience knows about all the members of his family and the wisdom he gained from them. His listeners easily relate to those stories.

When given20 minutes to speak, Bill Clinton takes 40 minutes. He can do that. He is The Big Dog, but the time isn't wasted. Clinton's speech at the Democratic convention went on twice as long as scheduled, but, in retrospect, is viewed as the highlight of that meeting. Sebelius isn't like either Biden or Clinton. She tells you what she has to say and then without further ado sits down.

Sebelius offered a contrast between President Obama and Mitt Romney. In terms of the economy, Obama believes in an ownership society in which growth occurs from the middle class outward. Said Sebelius, President Obama believes that
"everybody should have a fair shake; everybody should have a fair shot at
the American dream, and everybody should play according to the same
rules." Under Obama, she said, 5.1 million private sector jobs have been
added to the economy.

By contrast, she said, Romney believes in an "you're on your own society;
that if we keep Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, eventually, the
benefits will trickle down to the rest of us." "Well," said Sebelius,
"we've seen that plan before; it didn't turn out so well the first
time."

Sebelius used her father's support for Notre Dame football to summarize her view of the present economy. Her father quoted the Notre Dame coach who said, "We're not where we want to be. We're not where we ought to be. But, thank God, we're not where we used to be."

In terms of education, noted Sebelius, "we're now competing with every nation in the world. They understand that our growth occurred as a result of educating our
middle class, and now they're doing the same thing. The G.I. Bill after World
War II helped create a strong economy, but now we're losing it. The Obama
administration wants to remedy this and feels education can't start with
college; it has to start with 2 year olds and 3 year olds. We're preparing
children for jobs and for college and beyond."

"Gov. Romney's record could not be more different. As governor of Massachusetts, by his second year, he had some of the biggest cuts in education of any state in the country. As governor, I never cut education. Everything else could be on the table, but not education. Cutting education was a short-term way to save money at the expense of long-term growth.'

On health care, said Sebelius, "the President believes that we can't get the economy under control until we get the cost of health care under control. We need new rules which say insurance companies don't get to pick and choose whom they will insure. New rules to make insurance companies much more transparent. New rules that don't allow women to be charged up to 50 percent more for health insurance than men."

"Those bad old days are coming to an end thanks to the new health care law. The
majority of Medicare beneficiaries are women. By age 75, 70 percent are women.
The other team has a very different view. The government gives a voucher to
seniors who then must negotiate with insurance companies for coverage. No
guaranteed benefits; just a guaranteed sum of money."

Sebelius closed by noting, "Obama had a Kansan mother who believed in those Midwestern virtues that if you roll up your sleeves, work hard, play by the same rules, and take responsibility, you can achieve your dreams. If we all work together, we can prosper as a nation. But it should be all of us together. I know that her son, President Obama, shares those values."