Biden: Obama offers women more than McCain

CHICAGO, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Democratic U.S. vice presidential nominee Joe Biden says having Sarah Palin on the Republican ticket doesn't mean women should vote for her.

"Being a woman is not the same as being there for women -- they are two different things," Biden Friday told an estimated 1,000 women at a fundraiser in Chicago for Democratic nominee Barack Obama, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday.

The Obama-Biden ticket offers far more for women than does the ticket of Republican presidential nominee John McCain and Palin, his running mate, Biden said.

Entertainment mogul Oprah Winfrey warmed up the crowd at the National Women's Leadership Conference before handing the podium to Biden and Obama's wife Michelle, who said the "leadership of women will be critical" in electing the next president, the Sun-Times reported, noting Winfrey's address was not open to the public.

Barack Obama was to speak Saturday at the conference, organized by major donors to Obama's campaign.