WASHINGTON (AFP) — Prominent US women's rights groups on Tuesday backed Democrat Barack Obama for the White House and slammed his Republican rival John McCain for trying to lure women voters by choosing Sarah Palin as a running mate.
"The nation's oldest and largest women's rights organization... the National Organization for Women (NOW), proudly endorses Senator Barack Obama for president of the United States," NOW chief Kim Gandy told a news conference held jointly with other groups claiming to represent millions of women voters.
"For more than a decade, Barack Obama has said 'yes' to women's rights while John McCain has consistently said 'no'," she said.
"Although it is very unusual for us to endorse in a presidential election, this is an unprecedented candidate and an unprecedented time for our country," she said.
One after the other, leaders of the other groups present -- Ellie Smeal of the Feminist Majority, Deborah Frett of Business and Professional Women (BPW), Betsy Clark of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), and E. Faye Williams of the National Congress of Black Women -- stood up and firmly endorsed Obama and his running mate, Senator Joseph Biden.
Their backing for the Democratic ticket came as McCain's campaign was enjoying the leg-up it had been given in opinion polls by the nomination of the devout Christian, anti-abortion Palin as the Republican vice presidential candidate.
Palin's nomination not only electrified the Republicans' conservative base but also saw McCain take a lead over Obama, according to some surveys published last week.
Gandy had said earlier in a radio interview Tuesday that Palin's addition to the Republican ticket had given the women's groups a sense of urgency in announcing their endorsement of Obama and Biden.
While none of the women mentioned Palin by name at the news conference, Clark dismissed McCain's choice of running mate as a failed ploy to win the feminine vote.
"John McCain has chosen a woman for a running mate to lure Democratic voters to the Republican party. But women are smarter than that," said the head of the professional body that represents more than 600,000 US social workers, nearly nine out of 10 of whom are women.
"Women will not vote for John McCain simply because he has a woman as a running mate. Women know they need to cast their votes based on the policies set forth by each candidate, regardless of gender," she said, calling Obama was "the best hope for America."
"On issue after issue after issue, the Obama-Biden ticket stands with us, while McCain has a 26-year voting record in Congress against women's programs and women's rights," Smeal said at Tuesday's press conference.
"Obama's and his ticket's positions are the strongest platform for women's rights in the history of the United States of America," she said.
An advertisement released Monday by Obama's campaign highlighted how McCain has consistently voted against legislation which would give American women equal pay. They currently earn around three-quarters of what men earn for a comparable job, the Obama advertisement says.
Williams spoke on behalf of "black women for Obama all across the country" as she endorsed the Democratic ticket and painted McCain as being desperately out of step with the tough reality of life for ordinary Americans.
"We're in a housing crisis we have not seen before. We have gas prices that are going right back up... Our economy is crashing all around us... people are frightened of losing their life savings, and at the bottom of the totem pole are black women and their families," Williams said.
"And yet we have John McCain who thinks that the fundamentals of our economy are strong," she said, referring to a comment McCain made Monday as Wall Street plunged into turmoil following the collapse of investment banker Lehman Brothers.
"Where in the world has this man been?" Williams said, drawing a roar of laughter from the crowd of around 100.
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