DENVER - Wisconsin's female Democrats raised women's issues and worked to unite supporters of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, D-Ill., at the Democratic National Convention this week.
As a prelude to Clinton's speech Tuesday, Wisconsin's Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., shared their views on Clinton, Obama and the convention.
Moore, a Clinton supporter, said she admired Clinton but disagreed with a statement she made.
There's something she has said in the last couple of days that I totally disagree with. And that is that this is Barack Obama's convention. This is not Barack Obama's convention. This is our convention, this is the people's convention,"" Moore said.
According to Moore, the convention should not be about a particular candidate, but about the Democratic Party's collective agenda.
She said if McCain wins this election, women would suffer because he has opposed bills supporting women's reproductive rights and equal pay for women.
Lawton said this country needs a culture change instead of ""18 million cracks in the glass ceiling,"" an accomplishment Michelle Obama attributed to Clinton Monday night.
""I don't like the idea of glass ceilings. Anybody who broke through one knows that you don't get through one without serious injury, and then somebody can re-install it,"" Lawton said.
Madison's own U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin had two important roles at this year's convention as a member of the Democratic Platform Drafting Committee and one of the speakers Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center.
Baldwin said the Democratic Party's platform serves as a guideline for the nominee and shows the progress the party has made over the years.
She said she did not expect to be appointed to this post, but did not hesitate to accept the opportunity.
""It was a complete and total surprise. I had done nothing to suggest that I was seeking the post, and I got a call out of the blue, perhaps not from someone you'd expect. I had a telephone call on my cell phone from Senator Clinton,"" Baldwin said.
Obama and Clinton both agreed on Baldwin's appointment to the committee, which Baldwin said is a sign the Democratic Party is uniting after the divided primaries.
""I think in part my appointment to the drafting committee represented one of the many ways in which the two campaigns post-primary are unifying into one for Senator Obama,"" Baldwin said.
Baldwin endorsed Clinton early on in her campaign, but shifted her support toward Obama once he won the nomination. She said she is now glad to be on his team.
State Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, said women like Clinton and Michelle Obama provide inspiration for the younger generation of women.
""Hillary and Michelle Obama both do something for women all around this country, for little girls who will be able to look at those two women and say, 'I can do anything I want to do,'"" Taylor said.
