I have not been “fair and balanced” during this presidential campaign so far, so I want to make up for some of my bias today.  According to the news, Barack Obama has dispatched Hillary Clinton and other Democrat women to try to undercut the new shooting star in politics, Republican Vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska.

To assist the Obama campaign, I offer the following as a message from Hillary to the women of America:

Hillary: Don’t be fooled by that “other woman.” I’ve never let “other women” stop me from getting what I want out of life and you shouldn’t either.

Sarah Palin will try to fool you into thinking you should vote for John McCain and her instead of Barack Obama and Joe Biden because voting for the Republican ticket will allow you to vote for both a record of accomplishment and a woman at the same time, but don’t let that fool you.

Sure, it’s true that Sarah Palin defeated entrenched, corrupt incumbents to become mayor and then Governor, and it’s true that Obama’s political career was nourished by the Chicago political machine, but that’s not important.

Sarah Palin may be a woman, but is she a strong woman, or is she one of those wimpy “family” women? Let’s examine the record.

Oh sure, she served as chairman of  the Alaska Oil and Conservation Commission where she forced the oil industry to behave like more responsible citizens, but has she ever demanded a windfall profits tax from oil?

Yes, it’s true that she took on a corrupt attorney general, and that led to his resignation, but did she ever collect FBI files on political opponents?

Sarah Palin will tell you that she beat an incumbent to become mayor, and another incumbent to become governor, but I became a senator from New York after having lived there less than a year and Barack Obama beat Alan Keyes to become a U.S. Senator in Illinois.

And remember, Palin was the mayor of a small town, and governor of a state with fewer than a million people. How can she possibly have anything in common with women you and me?

Don’t be fooled by this “other woman” named Sarah Palin. She may have cut taxes, fought corruption, defeated entrenched incumbents and shunned the perks of office by getting rid of the cook and selling the governor’s jet, but is that really the kind of woman you want in office?

Does she have a law degree from Harvard like Barack and I do?  No. Has she been in politics all of her adult life, like Barack and I have? No. Ask yourself – just what kind of woman would raise five children while serving on the PTA, on state boards and commissions, run for and win a city council seat, then mayor, then governor, each time defeating incumbents and stopping in each office to cut taxes and fight corruption, and still enjoy an approval rating of 80 percent?

What kind of a woman plays basketball and hockey? What kind of woman joins the NRA and hunts moose? What does she want to do -- kill all of the moose in Alaska to make room for more oil pipelines? What kind of mother would kill Bullwinkle!?

Finally, what kind of message does it send to women if the first woman we elect as president or vice president is one who looks like Sarah Palin? She’s not fooling me with those glasses and that old-fashioned hair-do. You’ll notice she doesn’t try to hide her legs. I’ll bet she doesn’t even own a pantsuit.  Do you want your husband watching Sarah Palin on TV every night? Well, do you?

If you help elect John McCain and Sarah Palin, you’ll be working against the interest of women in America. As a woman, as a mom, as an office holder and reformer, Sarah Palin has a story to tell and a record to display that few other women in American will ever be able to match. Hell, there aren’t many men who could match it either. We know that because John McCain is a male chauvinist Republican and he would never have picked a woman as his running mate if he could have found a man as good as she is.

So, women of America, you have to ask yourself. Do you want the bar set this high this soon?  If you elect Sarah Palin to be vice president of the United States, what chance will women like me, and Nancy Pelosi, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg have of reaching high office in the future?

Take if from me, Hillary Clinton – a vote for Sarah Palin is a vote against real women. Give real women a chance America. Vote for Barack Obama.