Michelle Obama at the rally today in Richmond. (Photo: Democrats.org)

RICHMOND, VA -- President Barack Obama is currently speaking at Virginia Commonwealth University for the second of his two campaign kickoff rallies today. The Commander-in-Chief was introduced by his wife, Michelle. When it was his turn to speak, President Obama gave his wife's introduction high marks.

"Hello Virginia! What do you think about Michelle Obama?" he asked. "I hate following her. She is too good--and she looked good too. Didn't she? I'm just saying she looked pretty good."

In her introduction of the president, Ms. Obama said the election could be a close one and urged the audience to register to vote and encourage friends to do the same. Ms. Obama highlighted the president's modest background as she did in the same speech at today's first rally in Ohio. She also said President Obama's agenda is focused on preserving "the basic American values that so many of us were raised with."

"We are here because of the values we believe in. We're here because of the vision for this country that we all share. We're here because we want our children to have good schools," Ms. Obama said. "We want our parents and our grandparents to retire with dignity. We're here because we want to restore that basic middle class security for our families."

President Obama also thanked VCU men's basketball coach Shaka Smart, who helped warm up the crowd and got almost as much applause as the President himself. President Obama said that, prior to the event, Mr. Smart told him he hoped to visit the White House with the VCU Rams one day as the NCAA champion Kentucky Wildcats did yesterday. Mr. Smart was apparently deadly serious about his vow.

"He wasn't smiling," President Obama said.