Michelle Obama’s big speech; Ann Romney’s ‘grown up’ leadership claim

>> msnbc contributor joy reid and the author goldie taylor joining us from charlotte and my colleague and co-host of "the cycle" with us in new york and on msnbc, crystal ball . thank you all of you.

>> thanks.

>> joy, a big night tonight for the first lady. two-thirds of americans have a very favorable view of her. isn't the real trick here that the less political she sounds, the more politically effective she is?

>> yeah. absolutely. i think michele obama because she's so popular, transcends a lot of the partisanship we've heard she has the opportunity, doesn't need to humanize barack obama or make him likable, she understands that he's already winning that race, but as she said on a conference call with reporters today, her job is to remind people fundamentally who barack obama is, about his values, his character and remind people of the things that they liked about him in 2008 , and that people continue to like about him according to polls. so she's not humanizing him, she's reinforcing what she sees as his best attributes.

>> goldie , ann romney took the stage in tampa last week with two main goals, win over women voters and humanize her husband, one difficult, the other near impossible. all the first lady needs to do, i guess, is remind us her husband fought for equal pay, appointed women to the highest positions in the land and believes that women should make their own decisions about their own health choices. so i have to assume that the first lady's task is immeasurably easier than ann romney 's was?

>> it will be easier for michele obama to make this case tonight. she's going to walk the american people back through what her husband has accomplished over these last three to four years and she's going to walk them back through, albeit in a passionate way, who barack obama is and how he came to be, how his american story unfolded in this country and no one tells that story better than michele obama . and this is going to -- then she's going to point ahead to the future and ask women specifically are you going to be better off four years from now if mitt romney and paul ryan take hold of this white house . the answer from this crowd tonight, i'm going to suspect, will be a resounding no. and so if there is a war on women , paul ryan , mitt romney , they are standing in the fox hole and sadly, ann romney 's with them.

>> indeed. crystal, we have a been listening to a lot from mrs. romney since the last week. we've heard a lot of things she said. let's take a quick listen.

>> and i'm hearing from so many women that may not have considered voting for a republican before, that said it's time for the grownup to come, the man that's going to have -- that's going to take this very seriously.

>> a remarkable statement. she's getting into the weeds there of the political fight, but a grownup?

>> it's a very dangerous place to be, because people like ann romney , they love michele obama , but part of the reason that people like public figures like ann and michele, is that they stay out of politics. they're not seen as partisan or polarizing figures. when you make comments like that insinuating the president is a child and we need to bring a grownup into the room that's a very dangerous place for ann romney to go. and frankly, it's something that michele obama i think will be very weary of tonight as well. i think she'll be forceful, defending the president, talking about his policies, his values, but i don't think -- you'll never hear her mention mitt romney 's name. there won't be a direct contrast made there. it's just not the place for her to be.

>> joy, it's time for a grownup, says mrs. romney?

>> yeah. i think in a lot of ways that statement is very similar to the mistake that i believe cindy mccain made back in 2008 , seeming to be just another part of the political fray. and americans have shown, you know, polls show americans are tired of the nastiness and kind of harping between the candidates and again, when you have the first black president your might not want to do anything that sort of seems to infan talize him because all that's going to do is remind people of the overall atmospheric problem the republican party has which is this impression that they are trying to divide white voters from everyone else in a way that den grates everyone elsep that was a dangerous statement for her to make, stay out of the politics, keep trying to humanize mitt romney .

>> were you not persuaded by ann romney when she performed that remarkable moment when she said, i love you ladies, women ? were you not persuaded?

>> i was absolutely not persuaded. i found her speech, albeit for some people they thought it was heartfelt and moving. i thought it was contrived. i think that, you know, in her inability, it seems, to connect with the women of this country and the everyday challenges and struggles that they face, you know, it's a tough thing for ann romney . i really applaud her for telling her story and being forthwith with it but it's the first time we've heard some of this stuff. the timing is suspect. i want to wait and hear michele obama 's speech tonight and then we'll have something very real to compare it to.

>> crystal, on the point about the first lady, you were saying earlier she has been very sirc comspec in the things she said publicly, but this is a harvard trained lawyer. this is no weak need video.

>> certainly not.

>> do you think that the campaign ought to be using her a little more?

>> i think michele obama dictates how and when she's used by the campaign. she's made that clear from the beginning. she will be of service when she wants to be of service. she is a tremendous asset and you see any time the president brings her up on the campaign trail, the crowd goes wild because people love this first lady and one of the things you'll get out of this convention that's a little bit, you know, hard to quantify, i think americans love the president but they also love having that first family in the white house . they love seeing the image of them, the role model parents, the way that they conduct themselves with their children. we haven't seen sasha and malia much lately. that's going to be another thing that's tremendously exciting to people, seeing the family together.

>> crystal ball , goldie taylor and joy reed, thank you all.