Marian Robinson: The "Linchpin" Of The Obama Campaign

***Updated 8/25, 6 PM***

Marian Robinson spoke with USA Today to say that she's nervous for her daughter, Michelle Obama, who will speak tonight at the Democratic National Convention.

Robinson predicts her daughter won't be nervous, despite the big crowd and the high stakes.

"She's very confident," she says in a rare interview, "and I think that comes from being sure of who you are."

Michelle's mother and her brother, Craig Robinson, haven't offered Michelle any advice when it comes to what to say, either. "You don't give my sister advice," Craig Robinson says. "Since she was 5 years old -- 5 or 6 -- she always did what she wanted."

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She is the linchpin of Barack Obama's presidential campaign, and yet she does not raise money, plot strategy, lead conference calls, or carry a BlackBerry, which, in her day, was an unassuming fruit that grew on bushes.

Marian Robinson does, though, carry an exalted title in this race: mother-in-law. And from that perch, she makes the whole thing run.

The Boston Globe features a video on Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson.