Michelle Obama goes solo in Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa -- On her first solo campaign trip on behalf of her husband Saturday, Michelle Obama only briefly discussed politics with a crowd of largely black supporters gathered at the home of Willie Glanton, Iowa's first black legislator.

In a 15-minute speech, she focused on her upbringing in a working-class family on Chicago's South Side and her subsequent marriage to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

She said voters should elect the Illinois senator as their next president for his integrity, his guts and the fact that ''this brother is smart.''

''Politics turns away good people. If you got sense, don't do this,'' Michelle Obama said. ''But I'm not just here as the wife of a candidate, but I'm here as woman, a mother, a professional, a citizen desperate for something to change.''

Barack Obama on Saturday was on a two-day trip to heavily Republican western Iowa. Michelle Obama watched his appearance in Onawa streaming on the campaign's Web site while at the Des Moines party.

AP