WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The two women, once adversaries, embraced like best friends, calling each other “inspiring” and “amazing” and “my girl.” They clasped hands and worked a stage surrounded by more than 10,000 roaring supporters, waving and pressing the flesh as a team. Their past rivalry appeared all but forgotten, or at least overshadowed by the stakes of a presidential race. In their first joint campaign appearance on Thursday, Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton made a public show of sisterhood and mutual admiration as the current first lady, a star on the campaign trail, sought to use her soaring popularity to boost the former first lady into the Oval Office. “There are some folks out there who are commenting that it is unprecedented for a sitting first lady to be so actively engaged in a presidential campaign, and that may be true,” said Mrs. Obama, a reluctant campaigner who has nevertheless emerged in recent weeks as Mrs. Clinton’s most compelling surrogate. “But what is also true is that this is truly an unprecedented election, and that’s why I’m out here,” Mrs. Obama added, arguing that Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee, was working to discourage people in the crowd from voting by making “this election so dirty and ugly that we don’t want any part of it.” Mrs. Clinton’s campaign has deployed Mrs. Obama extensively over the past several weeks in competitive states like North Carolina, working to capitalize on her reputation to stoke enthusiasm and turnout particularly among women, African-Americans and young people. Her approval rating in August was 64 percent, more than 10 points better than President Obama’s, according to a Gallup tracking poll at the time. Mrs. Clinton’s current approval rating is 43 percent. The contrast between the two women could not be sharper, although both are Ivy League-educated lawyers who lived through two terms as first lady, a role freighted with expectations, riddled with pitfalls and devoid of real power. The two bonded on Thursday over the shared experience, not always pleasant. “I’m going to state the obvious: It’s not easy, you’ve got so many people counting on you, you’ve got the eyes of the world on you,” Mrs. Clinton said. “Let’s be real — as our nation’s first African-American first lady, she’s faced pressures I never did, and she’s handled them with pure grace.” Mrs. Obama has used her popularity to prosecute a case against Mr. Trump. She began in New Hampshire this month when she spoke in personal terms about the toll his campaign’s tone has taken on her and women across the country. “Enough is enough,” she said. Their pairing on Thursday made for a tableau impossible to imagine eight years ago when Mr. Obama was engaged in a battle with Mrs. Clinton for the Democratic nomination. But on Thursday in the center of a large arena, the first black first lady stood beside the former first lady who is seeking to break yet another historic barrier by becoming the first woman to be president, making common cause against Mr. Trump. “It doesn’t get any better than being here with our most amazing first lady,” Mrs. Clinton told a packed hall here at Wake Forest University. Comparing Mrs. Obama to the author and poet Maya Angelou, Mrs. Clinton called the first lady “another woman whose voice we need now more than ever.” “I wish I didn’t have to say this, but indeed, dignity and respect for women and girls is also on the ballot in this election,” Mrs. Clinton said, “and I want to thank our first lady for her eloquent, powerful defense of that basic value.” Starting with a prime-time speech at the Democratic National Convention in July, Mrs. Obama — who has done little to hide her distaste for campaign politics — has become an invaluable asset for Mrs. Clinton. Her phrase denouncing the personal attacks of the campaign — “When they go low, we go high” — has turned into a favorite call-and-response that her audiences recite rapturously, similar to Mr. Obama’s“Casting our vote is the ultimate way that we go high when they go low,” Mrs. Obama said again on Thursday. As the first lady has become a louder voice in the campaign, Mr. Trump has tried to call attention to the friction that once existed between Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Clinton. One of his tactics has been to resurrect an eight-year-old comment the first lady made during the 2008 primaries. “Our view was that if you can’t run your own house,” Mrs. Obama said at the time, “you certainly can’t run the White House.” The remark was interpreted by some as a veiled dig at Mrs. Clinton that was meant to refer to Bill Clinton’s sexual indiscretions. The Obamas insisted then that it was a comment about their own family, seeking to explain how they balanced politics with the raising of their daughters. “So we’ve adjusted our schedules to make sure that our girls are first,” Mrs. Obama immediately added. Still, Mr. Trump called attention to the statement in a posting on Twitter on Sunday, and his supporters have raised it each time Mrs. Obama praises Mrs. Clinton. On Thursday, both women sought to make it clear they were allies. “Seriously, is there anybody more inspiring than Michelle Obama?” Mrs. Clinton said. Mrs. Obama said she had been caught off guard by Mrs. Clinton’s effusive, 23-minute introduction. “It’s kind of throwing me a little bit,” she stammered. “Very generous.” “It takes a level of generosity of spirit to do what Hillary has done in her career and in her life for our family, for this nation,” Mrs. Obama said. “If people wonder, yes, Hillary Clinton is my friend.” She said voters should be “out there working your hearts out for my girl.” “Hillary doesn’t play,” Mrs. Obama said. “She has more experience and exposure to the presidency than any candidate in our lifetime — yes, more than Barack, more than Bill — so she is absolutely ready to be commander in chief on Day 1. And yes, she happens to be a woman.” On Thursday, Mrs. Clinton tried to tap into Mrs. Obama’s Everywoman appeal, pledging to “take good care” of the kitchen garden she has planted at the White House, and speaking, as Mrs. Obama often does, about what it was like to raise a daughter there. She even complimented Mrs. Obama’s dance moves, drawing a little boogie from the first lady, seated beside her. “I mean, wow,” Mrs. Clinton said. “Fired up? Ready to go!” chant in his 2008 campaign.
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