Emily's List, Ellen Malcolm and Wasserman-Schultz Endorse Obama

Still stinging from a bruising primary battle in which Ellen Malcolm served as National co-chair for Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign and put the full political force of Emily's List to work to elect the first pro-choice female President, Malcolm and other leading supporters of Clinton today offered strong endorsements for Sen. Barack Obama.

"Senator McCain is out of touch with the lives these women are leading and he is against many of the policy positions that they hold," said Ellen Malcolm, president of EMILY's List, a national organization that fundraises for pro-choice women candidates.

Congresswoman Debra Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) said the women convened the call to "sound the alarm bell" for women voters. ABC News reports the former Clinton supporters made a strong case,

And they cited a Gallup poll released Wednesday showing presumptive Democratic Sen. Barack Obama leading McCain among women likely voters by 13 percentage points, up from 5 percentage points last week before Clinton's concession.

In Clinton's last week of candidacy, Gallup had Clinton leading McCain by 12 points. That's a sign, they said, that women are flocking to Obama's candidacy. "There is a real fear that John McCain will be dangerous for women," Shultz said, "He will impede our progress if he becomes President of the United States; he is wrong on the issues that matter to women most."

Malcolm said white, non-college educated women will be the critical lynchpin to Democratic success and to Obama's victory in November. "Women have the power to determine the results of this election," Malcolm said.