PITTSBURGH — The economy, affordable health care, the war and education are personal issues, not just political ones, Michelle Obama said Thursday.

"This is personal because we're all feeling it now. We feel it when we put $20 in the gas tank and that $20 doesn't do anything anymore," the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama told about 2,000 supporters Thursday at the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum in Pittsburgh.

Obama said her husband is the only candidate with the temperament and economic plan to face the unprecedented challenges facing the nation.

Much of her 45-minute speech focused on the economy and the uncertainty faced by the communities like those along the city's three rivers that have struggled since much of the domestic steel industry collapsed in the 1980s.

"We feel it when we see job after job leaving our community and we wonder if we are next," Obama said.

"We worry, if it's this bad now, what's it going to be like in 10 or 15 years?" she said.