Michelle Obama: Vote! 'It's not enough to come to a rally and post some selfies'

Michelle Obama urged young people to get out the vote for Hillary Clinton during a speech Wednesday at La Salle University, telling them their votes could be crucial for the Democratic presidential nominee.

"Elections aren't just about who votes, but who doesn't vote," Obama told the crowd in the Tom Gola Arena. "And that is especially true for young people, like all of you."

Without the votes of people under 30 - including in Pennsylvania - Barack Obama would have lost the presidency in 2012, Michelle Obama said.

Saying her husband's victory in Pennsylvania that year equated to a margin of 17 votes per precinct, she told young people that by voting - and getting their friends and family to do the same - they would have an impact.

"But you could also help swing an entire precinct for Hillary's opponent with a protest vote, or by staying home," she said. The stakes, she said, "are far too high to take that chance."

Later, encouraging students to make sure they were registered to vote, Obama said: "It's not enough to come to a rally and post some selfies."

Her speech was the latest at a Philadelphia college by the Clinton campaign, which has been trying to shore up support with younger voters. Vice President Biden spoke Tuesday at Drexel University, while Clinton promoted her debt-free public college plan at Temple University last week.

In addition to hitting the trail for Clinton, Michelle Obama appears in a new TV ad on behalf of the Democrat. "Our children watch everything we do, and the person we elect as president has the power to shape their lives for years to come," she says in the ad, while describing Clinton's work on behalf of children.

In Philadelphia, Obama argued - though without using his name - that Donald Trump's comments on the campaign trail would reflect his conduct as president.

"If a candidate is erratic and threatening; if a candidate traffics in prejudice, fears and lies . . . if a candidate thinks that not paying taxes makes you smart, or that it's good business when people lose their homes; if a candidate regularly and flippantly makes cruel and insulting comments about women, about how we look, how we act - well, sadly, that's who that candidate really is," she said.

As she promoted her husband's record, including on the Affordable Care Act, job creation, and LGBT rights, Obama slammed Trump's history of promoting the so-called birther movement, with "hurtful, deceitful questions deliberately designed to undermine" her husband's presidency.

Those questions "cannot be blamed on others or swept under the rug by an insincere sentence uttered at a news conference," she said.

Earlier this month, Trump acknowledged that President Obama was born in the United States but did not apologize for casting doubt on Obama's citizenship.

While she was casting Trump as risky, Obama also made an affirmative case for Clinton. To those who "don't feel inspired" by the election, she said, "I have to disagree." She pointed to Clinton's resumé - from lawyer to first lady to U.S. senator and secretary of state.

"No one in our lifetime has ever had as much experience and exposure to the presidency. Not Barack, not Bill, nobody," Obama said. "And yes, she also happens to be a woman."

She also made an issue-based appeal for Clinton, telling young people that the next president will determine "whether you can afford your college tuition" and keep their health care when they graduate.

She framed the choice as whether to elect a president who "believes in science" and will combat climate change, who will "honor our proud history as a nation of immigrants," and who thinks "women deserve to make our own choices" - "or not."

"We can't afford to be tired or turned off, not now," she said.

Clinton's polling lead over Trump in Pennsylvania has narrowed in recent weeks, with the Democrat up by 2.4 points in an average of polls compiled by RealClear Politics.

The Trump campaign said in a statement Wednesday that Clinton's campaign in Pennsylvania was "on the run" and called the race "deadlocked."

mhanna@phillynews.com

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@maddiehanna