Denver, Colorado - Demanding equal pay for equal work and
affordable health care for all, Senate women took the podium Tuesday
at the Democratic convention to offer their support for Barack
Obama's presidential campaign.
New York Senator Hillary Clinton, who narrowly lost the centre-
left party's nomination to Obama, introduced the senators in a video
appearance and is to make her own appeal for party unity later in the
evening.
The night was devoted to the economy and women's issues. Tuesday
was the 88th anniversary of the US women's right-to-vote amendment to
the US constitution, and the Democratic speakers emphasized the
importance of women's support for Obama in the general election
battle against Republican candidate John McCain.
Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, a feisty advocate for
women's rights, noted that women still earn only 77 cents for every
dollar men earn.
'Let's elect Barack Obama and finally get equal pay for equal
work,' she said. 'We can put change in women's checkbooks.'
The reference to 'change' echoed Obama's campaign motto: 'Change
we can believe in.'
Senator Barbara Boxer of California said that Democrats must wrest
a large-enough congressional majority in the November general
elections to break down 'Republican roadblocks' to measures to fight
global warming.
Another item on the women's Checklist for Change was affordable
healthcare and coverage for the nation's more than 40 million
uninsured.
'We are in the midst of a national healthcare crisis,' Senator
Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas said. 'Two-thirds of Americans have
trouble getting or paying for the care that they need.'
Clinton's historic bid for the Democratic nomination brought her
more than 40 per cent of the 4,400 delegates assembled in the Rocky
Mountain city of Denver, Colorado.
Tension over her role at the convention and in the general
election campaign continued during the four-day event, which ends
Thursday with Obama's acceptance speech as the country's first
African-American major party presidential nominee.
Monday was devoted to sculpting a personal profile of Obama, as
his wife, Michelle, spoke of their working-class roots and the
legacies of the movements for women's and civil rights, which brought
the couple to the threshold of the White House.
Former president Bill Clinton, Hillary's husband, will speak
Wednesday night. It was not clear if the traditional state-by-state
roll call would run its full course and allow Clinton's delegates to
give her a final, full-throated tribute.
Clinton has urged her delegates to support Obama.
USA
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