On Day Two, Obama reaches out to women

DENVER — Barack Obama’s campaign is making a concerted effort to reach out to women voters on the same day former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton will address the Democratic convention. 

The campaign brought out some of its brightest stars Tuesday to talk about policies Sen. Obama (Ill.) supports that will help working women — Michelle Obama and vice presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Biden (Del.).

{mosads}Women governors from Kansas, Washington, Arizona and Delaware also appeared at an economic roundtable on challenges facing working women and families.

The effort comes as polls show a tightening race between Obama and GOP presidential candidate John McCain, who ran an ad this week that featured a female supporter of Clinton saying she would vote for the Arizona senator.

The McCain campaign has tried to paint a story about women frustrated with Clinton’s defeat turning to the Republican candidate. The former first lady is under some pressure Tuesday to deliver a primetime address that will get her supporters to remain in the Democratic column.

Several working women joined the politicians and offered personal accounts of struggles to afford health insurance and child care.

Obama's campaign also distributed a 12-page pamphlet highlighting policies the candidate supports. It included proposals to require employers to offer seven paid sick leave days a year, and to increase the child and dependent care tax credit for low-income families. The document said over 22 million women now do not get a single paid sick day.

Biden closed by saying that, other than ending the Iraq war, the most important thing Obama would do as president is name Supreme Court justices. He predicted that at least one and as many as four new justices would be named by the next administration.

“It's not merely a woman's right to choose which is at stake," he said. "It's whether or not you'll have a fair shot at a fair wage."