President Obama continued to focus on equality for women in the workplace in his weekly address Saturday, echoing a prominent theme among Democrats in this midterm election year.
“The simple truth is, when women succeed, America succeeds,” Obama said. “And we should be choosing policies that benefit women — because that benefits all of us.”
In his address, the president checked off a list of Democratic economic priorities, including raising the minimum wage, closing the income gap between men and women and providing more extensive maternity benefits.
“So let’s do this — let’s give America a raise,” Obama said.
The weekly address echoed many of the points the president made during a speech Friday in Rhode Island, which also focused on the theme of boosting women in the workplace.
“We have to do better because women deserve better,” Obama said during that speech. “And by the way, when women do well, everybody does well.”
The timing of these addresses indicates that the White House believes this is among the strongest cases to be made in the immediate lead-up to the midterm elections next week.
Indeed, themes of economic equality and women’s issues have been among the most popular among Democrats in this midterm election cycle. As Democratic campaigns have hoped to reshape the midterm electorate and turn out more Democratic voters to the polls, strategists have pinned their hopes on calls to raise the minimum wage and for pay equality among women and men, among other issues, to drive voter enthusiasm.
Voters go to the polls on Tuesday.
