WAUSAU - With only 18 days and one debate to go until the election, First Lady Michelle Obama spoke to a crowd of about 600 people in Wausau.

She focused on the qualities that make her husband a good president.

"When you've done well and you finally walk through that door of opportunity, you don't slam it shut behind you," she said. "You reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed."

Mrs. Obama also talked about the importance of early voting, which starts in Wisconsin Monday.

She told the crowd it's their responsibility to help get people to the polls.

"If anybody things that their involvement can't make a difference, I just want you to think about that handful of votes in a single ward. And if we win enough wards, we will win this state. And if we win Wisconsin, we'll be well on our way to putting Barack back in the White House for four more years," she said.

The First Lady's visit came just two weeks after the President himself was in Madison.

The visits are a sign the Obama campaign is taking Wisconsin seriously as a battleground state.

A new poll by NBC news and the Wall Street Journal shows the President and Mitt Romney just about neck and neck with Wisconsin voters.

Story By: Lyndsey Stemm, reporting contributed by Ryan Michaels