On Wednesday, Michelle Obama and Jill Biden headlined a "Women for Change" rally at UVA's Charlottesville campus. Local blogger Jen Sorenson reported a rousing event.
Yesterday's Women for Obama rally, while decidedly light on attacks on the McCain campaign, contained the single most important message the Dems can deliver about McCain and women: that McCain failed to show up for the vote on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and that he later said he would have voted against it.
UPDATE: Here's an amateur video courtesy of Scarce:
Other papers also highlight Michelle's appeal to working families:
Barack Obama, his wife said, supports tax cuts for 95 percent of Americans, equal pay for equal work for women, expanded ac-cess to affordable health care, a realistic long-term energy policy that would end the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, lower college tuition, and a safe and responsible withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. These goals, she said, are what matter most to American families. Her husband, she said, will get them accomplished.
"We can build a better future for our families and our communities," she said. "We can do that. What we do on Nov. 4 can change the world. You realize that."
American families are struggling to pay for high gas and food prices, as well as rising college tuition rates, she said. The Obama family, she added, only recently managed to pay off their student loan debt, and only because Barack Obama’s two books became bestsellers.
"Shouldn’t we have leaders who ‘get it?’ That understand what’s going on on the ground?" she asked. "Let me tell you, Barack Obama gets it. Joe Biden gets it."
Local TV news station, channel 19, likewise reinforced the rally's powerful economic message,
Obama and Biden talked about providing affordable healthcare and affordable higher education. The two also touched on pay differences between men and women.
The campaign's message was received by Shiela Weschler and her daughters.
"I took them out of school early because I wanted them to listen to Michelle Obama," said Weschler. "I think she's a great role model for women, and I thought it would be something they always remember.
During her speech, Obama made sure to emphasize the important role she says equity issues will play in her husband's administration.
"The truth is, when women are paid unfairly, who pays the price? Their kids, their families pay the price. And we won't stop fighting until women are paid fairly for the work that they do," said Obama.
Jen Sorenson says it well about McCain's weakness here,
If ever there was an opportunity for McCain to stand up for women, this was it, and he blew it big time. You want to stand up for women? You vote for equal pay for equal work. You don't recruit an embarrassingly unqualified, anti-choice, intellectually incurious, Trojan horse whackjob to curry favor with the ladies. As I jotted in my notebook while I listened to pay discrimination victim Lilly Ledbetter yesterday: "Palin seems like an absolute disgrace compared to this woman." And Ledbetter isn't even running for office.
Michelle Obama noted that many people present may not had heard Ledbetter's story. I believe it, and I wonder why that is. Kudos to the Obama campaign for having her speak on the trail; however, her story -- and the fact of McCain's opposition to equal pay -- needs to be put forth much more forcefully. Honestly, McCain's rejection of the Ledbetter law should be a running joke by now.
Amazingly, many followers of Trojan Horse candidates like Palin do not understand that they are a tactic -- a tactic towards greater inequality. Party operatives who put up Trojan Horse candidates know exactly what they're doing. Palin is a living contradiction in that she would never be in the position she's in had it not been for progressives who fought for decades for women's rights. They fought against the conservative ideologies Palin espouses and promises to put into practice. She's a cynical ploy, folks. Hence my cartoon for this week. You might also want to read my cartoon about Lilly Ledbetter.
If you missed my pictures from the rally, check 'em out here.
[The links to the pictures and cartoons she mentions are available on her blog.]
No video from Michelle or Jill's speeches are online, but here’s video Tom Periello’s speech at the event:
As Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden discussed in yesterday's webcast (hat tip LauraThorne, women are the hardest hit when the economy goes sour. Team Obama's emphasis on working women is smart politics, but also has the virtue of being true.