HUDSON, WI — Sen. McCain cast himself as the best choice for American women today during a town hall at J&L Steel Erectors, a female-owned business based in the Badger State.

“Women in America not only take care of the children, manage the household budgets and balance the pressures of work and family, they also run the enterprises that keep our country running,” McCain told the nearly 500 strong, female-majority audience. “There has been enormous progress. That progress, by the way, is far from, far from complete…we have not done enough, we have not done enough.”

While the presumptive GOP nominee lauded the progress women have made in politics, NGOs and business, he vowed today to work toward “equal pay for equal work” and ensure that “there is equal opportunity in every aspect of our society.”

McCain, campaigning with his wife Cindy and one of his chief female surrogates, Carly Fiorina, attacked his Democratic rival one day after Sen. Obama reached out to female voters in New York and Virginia.

“Senator Obama went on at great length about how much he cares about women’s issues. I believe him,” McCain said. “And my opponent was saying all the right things, but the fact is this: When you cut through all the smooth rhetoric, Senator Obama’s policies would make it harder for women to start news businesses, harder for women to create or find new jobs, harder for women to manage the family budget, and harder for women and their families to meet their tax burden.”

The Arizona Senator has an uphill struggle ahead to capture the votes of female voters this fall with the latest Pew poll, released yesterday, showing Obama up by 14 (51%-37%) among women.

For it’s part the Obama campaign countered that McCain “seems stuck in an outdated view of American families.”

“Senator McCain thinks the Supreme Court was right to make it harder for women to challenge pay discrimination at work, and he opposed legislation that Obama co-sponsored to reverse that decision,” said Anita Dunn, an Obama campaign adviser. “Senator McCain has suggested that the reason women don’t have equal pay isn’t discrimination on the job-it’s because they need more education and training. Senator Obama couldn’t disagree more.”