OTTUMWA — Michelle Obama made her first solo appearance in Ottumwa Wednesday in support of her husband’s presidential bid.

Spouses on the campaign trail are nothing new. Obama said they play an important role in helping voters understand the candidates, since the spouses know the candidates when they’re off the stage.

She also believes the voters have a right to know something about the families of the person they’re sending to the White House.

“I think it gives people a full perspective on who the candidates are ... I think that when you elect a president, you’re really electing, not electing, but you’re going to have their family. The family is going to be in the full view of the public, so it’s important for people to understand who we are,” she said.

Obama focused on lessons she attributes to her children and her parents. The family’s ability to help each other is fading with the loss of good jobs, good retirements and good education, she said.

“It has become harder and harder and harder for regular families to make ends meet. And there’s something that’s not fair about that,” she said.

Obama said the good news is that the basic tools that built the nation are still in place. People still work hard. They still want a good education. And the country still has the ability to solve the problems it faces.

The challenge, she said, is to utilize those tools in an environment in which fear plays a major role. Obama pointed to people who worry about what might happen, personally and nationally, and focus on the worst possibilities as a condition that must change.

Obama held up her father as an example of the kind of person found in communities across the country. He worked hard, even though he had multiple sclerosis. She remembers him walking with a pair of crutches, and finally being bound to a motorized cart.

“Imagine a man like my father, who was once a boxer and a swimmer, not being able to get around,” she said. “The beauty of my father is that we never knew that about him. He never complained. He got up every day and went to work. He was never late. The beauty of my father was that he took pride in what he could do.”

The lessons from her children are just as clear. Her husband calls home from the campaign trail each evening. Her daughters don’t care so much about how the campaign went that day; they just want to hear from their father.

“My girls do not care that Barack is running for president,” she said. One drove home the point during a phone call. “She asked ‘Dad, where are you?’ And he said, ‘I’m in New Hampshire,’” she said before pausing. “And she said, ‘Well, at least you aren’t in Iowa again.’”

Obama used the stories about her upbringing to illustrate why she wants her husband to be president. It’s not a convenient thing for her family. But the benefits for the country outweigh the inconvenience. But she said Barack Obama was raised on the same basic values of hard work and hope.

The war in Iraq, a campaign point that comes up quickly for the candidates, was a later point during Wednesday’s speech. Obama said her husband stands as the only candidate who opposed the war from the start. He ignored the conventional wisdom and the tide in Washington, D.C.

“The question is not whether Barack is ready. Trust me, he’s ready. He does not have the years of experience in Washington. But we’ve seen what happens when you have years of experience in Washington,” she said.