COLORADO CONVENTION CENTER -- Michelle Obama tapped into her husband's story - raised by a single mom who sometimes had to rely on food stamps - to tell delegates attending today's women's caucus that Barack knows their struggles and needs their support.

"The struggles of working women and families ... aren't new to any of us," she said as hundreds of delegates and supporters cheered in acknowledgment, "and they're certainly not new to Barack."

His mom had to use "food stamps to keep it all together" while raising him, Michelle Obama said, and then struggled with medical bills as she fought cancer later in life.

"As president, Barack will change Washington," she said. "So instead of talking about family values, we will have policies valuing families."

Barack Obama will expand the family medical leave act and provide at least seven paid sick days a year for workers, a boon for moms who often have to take time off for their sick children.

He will ensure women are paid fairly for their hard work - "closing the pay gap" - and protect a woman's right to choose, she added.

"It's a family issue," she said of that pay gap. "When women are paid less for their work, who pays the price? Their children."

Michelle Obama also paid homage to Hillary Clinton, her husband's former rival, by saying Clinton made him "a better candidate." She also said Clinton helped her own two daughters see what's possible for women in America.

A few women walked around carrying yellow "Hillary" signs but did not disrupt the event.

Michelle Obama implored women to work as hard for her husband as they had for Hillary.

"We're going to need you every step of the way," she said. "I'm going to need you every step of the way."

Before Michelle Obama spoke, four anti-abortion protesters quietly made their way to the front of the ballroom, stood up facing the audience and whipped off coats to show t-shirts proclaiming their stance. They began to shout but were quickly drowned out by cries of "O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma!" from audience members.