Biden brings fight to Wisconsin with appeal to women voters

LA CROSSE, Wis. - A day after going toe-to-toe with Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) in a spirited and oftentimes feisty debate, Vice President Joe Biden took the fight to his GOP rival's home state.

Speaking to a crowd packed with 2,000 people at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, Biden tried to follow up on his Thursday night performance. This time, with a particularly direct appeal to women.

"If anyone had a doubt about what's at stake in this election, when it comes to women's rights, and the Supreme Court, I am sure they were settled last night," Biden claimed.

"Congressman Ryan made it very clear that he and Governor Romney are prepared to impose their private views on everyone else. It was made clear last night that they don't believe in protecting a woman's access to health care," he added.

After a flat out warning that the future of Roe v. Wade hinges on the outcome of this election, Biden continued to tear into Congressman Ryan, claiming the House Budget Chairman opposes equal pay legislation and is "holding hostage" the Violence Against Women Act -- which has stalled in Congress.

"If I leave you with no other message today, I want you to remember this one: Barack Obama and Joe Biden are absolutely positively firmly committed to ensuring that our daughters and my granddaughters have the exact same rights and opportunities to control their lives as my sons and my grandsons, exact same rights," Biden said.

"Make no mistake about that. These guys have a social policy out of the '50s."

The women's vote clearly cannot be taken for granted. Biden's attacks Friday prove it. So do recent numbers.

A Pew Research Center survey released Monday showed Mitt Romney pulling even among women voters. In September, the same outfit had President Obama leading the key voting bloc by 18 points.