Military wife to speak at Democratic National Convention

CHESAPEAKE

Beth Robinson had planned a low-key Thursday. She wanted to clean her house and watch the U.S. women's soccer team play the Brazilians for the Olympic gold medal.

Instead, Robinson, a stay-at-home mom from Chesapeake married to a Marine, was shopping for new clothes and luggage, fielding phone calls from reporters and packing for Denver.

Robinson, 33, is one of a handful of regular folks tapped by the Democratic National Committee to speak at the convention next week.

Democratic Party officials called her Monday morning. Since then, life has been a whirlwind.

"I remember seeing the caller ID, it said Democratic National Committee," a still stunned Robinson said. "I thought it was somebody

calling for a donation."

Ashley Etienne, a spokeswoman for the Barack Obama presidential campaign in Virginia, said Robinson proved to be a passionate advocate for women and military families when she introduced Obama's wife at a recent Norfolk event.

"I think Beth's story is representative of a number of working moms and military wives," Etienne said. "It's a story a lot of women can relate to."

Robinson doesn't know yet when she'll be speaking. But she hopes to find out soon so she can arrange for a baby sitter if the schedule clashes with her 19-month-old daughter Claire's bedtime. She's also not quite sure what she'll say to the audience at the Pepsi Center. On that front, though, she's getting a hand. Writers from Obama's staff are helping her craft her message, Robinson said.

With a soapbox that will reach thousands, Robinson knows there is at least one issue she plans to highlight: health care.

Robinson has multiple sclerosis, and getting access to the doctors she needs at a price she can afford is a constant worry.

"Unless you're a healthy person, the system doesn't work well," she said. "They don't make it simple for people, especially for a person who hasn't learned to be an advocate for themselves."

Robinson said she knows she'll be the face of military families supporting Obama, and she frets over the details and the responsibility.

"All of the weight of this is sinking in," she said.

She made sure her biography for the convention clearly states that her husband Matt has been assigned to Afghanistan once and Iraq twice. He has not been deployed there for long periods. That's an important distinction for military families, she said.

She and Matt weighed all the issues before she agreed to speak at the convention, she said.

Military families tend to stay out of the political orbit. Robinson said she knows this speaking opportunity attracts the limelight, but also opens her up to criticism.

"The Marine Corps is part of our family," Robinson said. "This is not about me going in there to gripe."

Her husband, she said, is supportive and thrilled.

When asked whether he, too, plans to vote for Obama, she replied, "You'll have to ask him that. He has his points. I have my points. It's his prerogative to do what he thinks is right."

Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com