Author, activist and co-founder of Ms. Magazine Gloria Steinem said on Tuesday women can win New Mexico for Kerry.
"If (single) women would have voted in the same proportion as married women in the last election, we would have had such a huge margin against Bush that even shenanigans wouldn't have been able to fix it," she said.
NARAL Pro-Choice New Mexico sponsored Steinem and is campaigning to get 11,000 abortion-rights supporters to vote. Mostly women populated the crowd of more than 350 in the SUB.
Steinem focused her remarks on the role women play in American democracy and the enduring women's rights movement. After the success of the women's suffrage and Civil Rights movements, the United States is undergoing a third wave of women's rights activism - a fight that may span a century, she said.
"First the opposition says, 'We don't need these movements,'" she said. "Then, when we do it anyway, they say, 'Well, it used to be necessary, but not anymore.' So we get terms like 'post-feminism.' That's like saying 'post-democracy.'"
Steinem said traditions of suppressing voting in America have entered their own new wave.
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She said the American voting system is a puzzle of differing voting laws and registration times and is held for one day during a workday, resulting in low turnout. In contrast, India keeps its voting polls open for a week, and despite widespread poverty and illiteracy, 70 percent of Indians vote, she said.
Steinem said Sen. John Kerry shares few similarities with President Bush and stressed the reactionary character of the Bush administration.
America is controlled by the ultra-right, which represents one-third of the population, and is effectively rallied by the National Rifle Association and Christian fundamentalist groups, she said.
"I think of them as the people our European ancestors came here to escape," she said.
While 90 percent of conservatives vote regularly, less than 60 percent of centrists and liberals turn out to the polls, she said.
"That is the problem," she said.
Among the many reasons to vote for Kerry, she said, one is his policy on college tuition. Since Bush has been president, tuition has increased 30 percent and student loans have been cut nationwide, she said.
That's reason enough to vote for Kerry, she said, who would reverse higher education funding cuts if elected.
After her speech, Steinem opened the floor to public discussion.
Some people expressed concern about Kerry's vote in the Senate to authorize President Bush to use force against Iraq.
Steinem said Kerry used his affirmative vote not to grant Bush war powers, but to enhance America's diplomatic position to resolve Iraq's weapons questions.
"Kerry thought, rightly or wrongly, he could achieve a good end by getting (the Bush administration) to go to the United Nations," she said. "He fell for the idea that all these measures would be tried before force was tried. He votes right most of the time. We'll get him to talk right later."
