Don’t fret my Republican & Green friends, I shall cover you all as well. Since I did miss the Green Party convention a few weeks ago, I’ll do them next week as the GOPers are gathering the week afterward.

Today marks the start of the Democratic National Convention and with it four days of speeches, promises, and pageantry all designed to get us to vote for the Obama-Biden ticket. But what does this ticket offer for working women? Are we even on their radar? A peek at the campaign website offers multiple policy stances in these areas:

* Health care
* Reproductive choice
* Preventing violence against women
* Economic issues
* National security
* Poverty
* Education

There is even an economic plan for women on the campaign site. It’s not that long or full of jargon. I think it’s fairly simple to read and think everyone should take time to read it.

There is also the history of the candidates to consider. The most important policy history is Senator Biden’s leadership on passing the Violence Against Women Act. This coupled with feminists pushing society to take seriously the act of violence against women were important turning points in our country’s history.

Now the downside of this ticket. I might be partisan, but I do try to be fair.

Biden is most recently remembered for his “articulate” comment regarding his ticketmate, Senator Obama. People of color often do not take being called articulate as a compliment because this suggests that being articulate is an exception for “our people.” There is still contention surrounding Obama’s voting record while an Illinois State Senator in relation to reproductive justice. Some, such as Illinois NOW, suggest that he ducked these crucial votes by voting ‘present’ while Illinois Planned Parenthood claims that this was a strategy to protest the vote.

If you do happen to be in Denver, join NOW and other guests at the Women’s Equalitea. This marks Women’s Equality Day aka the day women won the right to vote in 1920. EIGHTY-EIGHT years…that’s still within the lifetime of so many women.

Plenty of women & moms will be blogging from the convention this week, so if you’re like me and watching from your couch, you can stay up on more than just what the official media is telling us.

* WIMN’s Voices: Shireen Mitchell will be posting from Denver.
* Women’s Media Center: They have a great widget you can grab for your site/blog that shows blog posts.
* MOMocrats: They are also twittering their experience.
* Viva la Feminista: My blog! I really have a ton of other work to do this week, but somehow I think I’ll blog from my couch about the convention. Especially if something really pisses me off.

I know not everyone is as settled with their vote as die-hard party people. Are there questions from the middle of the political voting spectrum that Moms on Issues can help address? Maybe those less clear issues like how an expansion of the Family Medical Leave Act might impact your small business? Leave them in the comments and I’ll get to work on them and I promise to be as impartial as possible!