Below is information on approval ratings for each candidate. This information is pending finding a source that is equal for each candidate because on reader brought up a good point that the links below could be mostly bias. Please submit anything you have.

Approval Ratings
Women

**Who are you voting for and why? Post your comment below**
Comparison between Barack Obama and John McCain on Women’s Issues

Below is a comparison between the two top candidates on each issues affecting women in the 2008 Election. Since this website is mainly for moms and women I am presenting issues which affect us. This information is not intended to persuade you in either direction, rather I’d like to provide you the opportunity to make an informed decision. If you have any edits, feel something has been reported in error or if I have left out a key issue please comment or email me with a credible source for the correction or addition. (I haven’t included topics like economy or energy. While these topics are also important to women, covering every single topic is not the goal of this exercise.) Please see the sources of information page for a list of sources. Enjoy!

Click each link to see a Comparison between Obama and McCain:

Health Care
AIDS/HIV
Abortion/Choice
Adoption
Stem cell research and Human Embryos
Marriage
Child Care
Child Support
Family Leave Act
Child Education
Other Education
Unintended Pregnancy & Teen Pregnancy
Violence and Crimes against Women or Children
Pay Equality
Work
Women Owned Small Businesses
Women in Math and Science
Taxes
Women Veterans

Sources of Information

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Update: I have emailed all candidates asking for their stance on each topic. I will add them should I get a response. The other candidates websites are:

Charles Baldwin: http://www.baldwin2008.com
Robert Barr: http://www.bobbarr2008.com/
Cynthia Ann McKinney: http://votetruth08.com/
Ralph Nader: http://www.votenader.org

Removed Approval Ratings until I can find an unbias source. I have a beta page going here.

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Obama
Barack Obama has an entire section on his website devoted to women’s issues. That makes it easy enough to find out what his stance is on topics ranging from Women’s Health to Education. He has also rallied several support groups including: Prime Time Women for Obama, Boomer Women for Obama, Middle-Aged Women for Obama, Women over 50 for Obama and Obama Mamas. Joe Biden dicusses women’s issues in the youtube video below (released September 17, 2008).

McCain
John McCain has specific area on his website purely for “Women for McCain” but it doesn’t have any information on issues. Some reltaed topics can be found under the human dignity and life section of his website. Using the search function only provides press releases about how women support him. However, these articles do no specifically state why. Therefore, I had to find outside sources who have quoted him on various topics. Sarah Palin’s views are summarized here.

Sources:
http://www.votesmart.org/npat.php?can_id=53270#409
http://www.votesmart.org/npat.php?can_id=9490#408
http://www.johnmccain.com
http://www.barackobama.com
http://www.womenforbarackobama.com/
http://women.johnmccain.com/
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/
http://christianity.about.com/od/religionpolitics/p/mccainfaithss.htm
http://fatherhood.about.com/od/mensissues/p/john_mccain.htm

Sen. John McCain’s Ratings by Special Interest Women’s Groups
Sen. Barack Obama Ratings by Special Interest Women’s Groups
Sen. Joseph Biden’s Ratings by Special Interest Women’s Groups

McCain

• Married couple filing jointly should pay the same taxes as if they were an unmarried couple filing separately.
• Says he would double the child deduction from $3,500 to $7,000.
• Slightly Increase Child Care Tax Credit Deductions.
• Provide tax credits for businesses that provide child care for their employees.
• Voted YES on eliminating marriage penalty -Bill HR.4810 ; vote number 2000-215 on Jul 18, 2000
• “I think we’ve got to eliminate the marriage penalty, the earnings test, raise the 15% tax bracket, put a level of $5 million on the inheritance tax. But this tax code is 44,000 pages long. It’s an abomination. It’s a cornucopia of good deals for the special interests and it’s a nightmare for American citizens.” -Phoenix Arizona GOP Debate Dec 7, 1999

Obama

• Obama worked with Senator Olympia Snowe (R-WA) to introduce legislation lowering the Child Tax Credit’s income limit so that 600,000 more families can benefit. The Child Tax Credit allows parents to receive $1,000 per child and has been an important financial resource for working families.
• Proposes to increase the child and dependent care tax credit.
• Provide tax credits for businesses that provide child care for their employees.
• Supports eliminating marriage penalty and extending child tax credit. Proposes a “making work pay” tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family.
• Says he would reform the child and dependent care tax credit by making it refundable and allowing low-income families to receive up to a 50 percent credit for child care expenses.

McCain
Nothing Found.

Obama
Obama Passed Into Law a Requirement that Women And Minority Scientists/Engineers Be Represented And Consulted on Specific Technology and Science Efforts.

McCain

• While he does not have a specific reference for women, he does provide a lengthy page on his website about the topic and refers to “men and women”.

Obama

• See “Caring for Women Veterans” on his website.

McCain
John McCain reached across party lines in an effort to help women business owners. Senate Bill S 3077 Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008, was sponsored by Barack Obama and was co-sponsored by Senators John McCain.

Obama

• Barack Obama encourages investing in women-owned businesses, providing more support to women business owners and reducing discrimination in lending. (Women business owners are more likely than white male business owners to have their loan applications denied.)
• He also proposes to open up new funding resources for minority- and women-owned businesses and legislate to eliminate unfair and discriminatory lending practices to women.
• Barack Obama has proposed implementing the Women Owned Business Contracting Program (WOBCP). This program was signed into law by President Clinton, but was never implemented under either of the Bush administrations. WOBCP is a program to encourage more women to participate in competing for federal contracts.

McCain

• McCain supported flex-time scheduling, comp-time, and unpaid leave for family emergencies.

Obama

• Barack Obama supports efforts to guarantee workers seven days of paid sick leave per year, a moderate proposal that should not impose too onerous a burden on employers.
• Barack Obama would raise the minimum wage, index it to inflation, and increase the Earned Income Tax Credit to make sure that full-time workers have a living wage.
• Protect Against Caregiver Discrimination: Workers with family obligations often are discriminated against in the workplace. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will commit the government to enforcing recently-enacted Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines on caregiver discrimination.
• Expand Flexible Work Arrangements: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will address this concern by creating a program to inform businesses about the benefits of flexible work schedules for productivity and establishing positive workplaces; helping businesses create flexible work opportunities; and increasing federal incentives for telecommuting

McCain
Voted NO on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which restores the longstanding interpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. When asked why he stated: “[Women] need the education and training, particularly since more and more women are heads of their households, as much or more than anybody else,” McCain said. “And it’s hard for them to leave their families when they don’t have somebody to take care of them.” It’s a vicious cycle that’s affecting women, particularly in a part of the country like this, where mining is the mainstay; traditionally, women have not gone into that line of work, to say the least.”

Obama

• Obama Passed Equal Pay Act In Illinois To Give 330,000 More Women Protection From Pay Discrimination.
• Obama co-sponsored and voted for the Equal Pay Act which provided that no employer may discriminate between employees on the basis of sex

John McCain speaking about Equal Pay for Women:

McCain
McCain’s legislation requires that sex offenders register all online accounts in a national database that can be used by law enforcement to investigate crimes against children. If these predators fail to register they would be sent to prison for ten years. The legislation also makes use of the Internet an “aggravating factor” in sex crimes against children, adding an additional ten years to any conviction.

Obama
Barack Obama has been a leading voice in Washington urging the end of genocide in Sudan. He worked with Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) on the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, a version of which was signed into law.

Senator Obama co-sponsored and helped reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. Signed into law in January 2006, the bill funds and helps communities, nonprofit organizations, and police combat domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

Barack Obama introduced legislation to combat domestic violence by providing $25 million a year for partnerships between domestic violence prevention organizations and Fatherhood or Marriage programs to train staff in domestic violence services, provide services to families affected by domestic violence, and to develop best practices in domestic violence prevention.