On Day of Palin Speech, Obama Courts Women Voters

(CHICAGO) On the day of Sarah Palin’s speech at the Republican Convention, Barack Obama is making a play for women voters. He heads to Ohio today where he will host an economic town hall meeting with women, as he continues to argue that he is the candidate who will stand up for women’s rights.

Last week, Obama blasted both McCain and Palin on equal pay for women. “She’s opposed like John McCain is to equal pay for equal work. That doesn’t make much sense to me,” Obama said in Toledo, Ohio.

The campaign also released a radio ad highlighting McCain’s opposition to abortion and suggesting that he will overturn Roe vs. Wade.

“John McCain's out of touch with women today,” the narrator says. “McCain wants to take away our right to choose. That's what women need to understand. That's how high the stakes are.”

In recent months, both the Obama and McCain campaigns have targeted women voters, especially disaffected Clinton supporters. McCain's decision to pick Palin as his running mate appears to be an obvious move to attract more women to his ticket, but her opposition to abortion rights may be major sticking point with those voters.