Tipsheet

Michelle Obama Hits the Campaign Trail to Urge Young Voters to 'Take Their Power Back'

Celebrities are hitting the campaign in preparation for the midterm elections. And former First Lady Michelle Obama is right there with them.

Obama appeared at a voter registration rally on Friday at the University of Miami with former Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland, singer Erica Campbell and "Key & Peele" star Keegan-Michael Key, the Associated Press reported.

The former First Lady's message was simple: it's time for the youth to "take their power back" by "actually doing something about it," a reference to voting in elections.

Obama explained the typical cycle that Americans go through: people tune out politics because they're frustrated by what they see, they stay home and don't vote and then they complain about what's taking place in Washington, D.C. Then the cycle repeats.

"When a huge chunk of the population sits out of the process, why are we surprised when our politics don't reflect our values?" she asked.

She also reminded the audience that their vote does matter in the end. She used two prime examples: the 2016 city commission race in Cocoa Beach came down to eight votes. The mayoral race in South Daytona came down to five votes.

"Five votes, y'all...Every vote matters. It really does," she said.

Although the event was said to be about voter registration and not party politics, two dozen students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School appeared at the event and sat together. They have been part of a national push to register young people to vote, specifically so they have a say in gun control legislation and "gun sense" candidates.