Michelle Obama: Husband no `fairy tale'

Michelle Obama said Sunday her husband is the person America needs in the White House right now and criticized anyone who would dismiss his campaign as being built on illusion or fairy tale.

She said Barack Obama is the right candidate "not because of the color of his skin, but because of the quality and consistency of his character" and that postponing his bid for the White House was not an option.

"I know about the sense of doubt and fear about what the future holds, that keeps us hoping and waiting for a turn that will never come," she said. "There are a lot of doubters and naysayers out there talking about, 'I'm not sure America is ready for a black president.'"

But she declared that "we are more ready and prepared than we can ever know."

Greeted by a standing ovation when she took the stage at the opening of the Trumpet Awards — an event celebrating black achievement — she went on to criticize anyone who would "dismiss this moment as an illusion, a fairy tale" in an obvious reference to comments made by Bill Clinton, the spouse of her husband's main rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, who used the term "fairy tale" to refer to Obama's characterization of his position on the Iraq war.

Among that group, she included blacks who might be skeptical about whether Obama is electable. She pointed to his showing in Iowa and New Hampshire and said she is optimistic about his chances in the upcoming South Carolina Democratic primary — when the black vote will first factor into the election.

"We had a miraculous victory in Iowa," Michelle Obama said. "Ain't no black people in Iowa! Something big, something new is happening. Let's build the future we all know is possible. Let's show our kids that America is ready for Barack Obama right now."

Michelle Obama's remarks were also peppered with references to Coretta Scott King and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., whose 79th birthday is Tuesday.