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Michelle Obama declared last night that "I love this country" as she sought to persuade a sceptical US electorate that she and her husband shared the values of ordinary Americans and would fight for the many working-class voters who remain stubbornly hostile to his presidential bid.

Mrs Obama, delivering a passionate and very personal speech about her life with Barack Obama and their "blue collar" roots, also praised Hillary Clinton for her role in advancing the cause of women during her bitter primary battle against her husband, at the start of a week where many of the former First Lady's supporters are still refusing to back his candidacy.

She was seeking to humanise her husband as polls demonstrate that, despite his fame, many Americans feel they do not know who he is and remain unconvinced that he has either the experience to be president or an understanding of the financial struggle faced by millions of Americans in a faltering US economy. Mr Obama, who accepts the nomination on Thursday night, is effectively tied with John McCain, his Republican opponent.

'Blue collar' Barack is like you, wife tells America

Michelle Obama gave a passionate speech about their life together, and also tried to win over former Clinton backers

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"I come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president," Mrs Obama declared to a cheering audience, less than an hour after they watched with extraordinary emotion an address by Senator Edward Kennedy, who in June underwent major brain surgery for a malignant brain tumour.

Referring to her daughters Sasha and Malia, who took the stage after the speech had ended and teased their father by video link, Mrs Obama added: "I come here as a mom whose girls are the heart of my heart and the centre of my world.

"We want our children and all children in this nation, to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them."

Mrs Obama, a Princeton and Harvard-educated lawyer, spoke of her working class roots in Chicago's South Side, and of her husband's work as a community organiser in the same impoverished area after he himself left Harvard Law School. She spoke of "ordinary folks", of "men and women gathered in churches and union halls, in town squares and high school gyms", as her husband on the campaign trail this week had begun to deliver a sharper, more populist message to blunt attacks by Mr McCain that he is a fussy elitist.

"And you know, what struck me when I first met Barack was that even though he had this funny name, even though he'd grown up all the way across the continent in Hawaii, his family was so much like mine," Mrs Obama said. "He was raised by grandparents who were working class folks just like my parents, and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills just like we did. Like my family, they scrimped and saved so that he could have opportunities they never had themselves.

"And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree with them. And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generation. Because we want our children – and all children in this nation – to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them."

Mrs Obama has been accused by Republicans of being an angry, unpatriotic black woman after she said in a speech in February that "for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country."

She praised the struggle and hard work of the less fortunate "driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won't do – that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be. That is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack's journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope. That is why I love this country."

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