• October 3, 2008

Womens' site iVillage content covers a range of categories from parenting to food to entertainment to style. Politics hasn't been among them. But with the launch of "Voice Your Choice" this week, iVillage plunges into the presidential race with a forum for visitors to share information and opinions on the election.

In addition to offering message boards and links to political blogs and articles, the section features softer video packages skewed to women viewers. These include videos on Barack and Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention ("Four Days in Denver") and on Cindy McCain's work with the Halo Trust, a nonprofit which removes landmines from war-torn countries.

On Thursday, the focus was on Sarah Palin, with questions inviting people to weigh in on how John McCain's running mate would perform in the vice presidential debate against Joe Biden. (According to its online poll, half expected her to "crash and burn," 29% viewed the debate as "her moment to shine," and 22% said she would do an "OK job.")

An iVillage spokesperson said the company was pleased with the response to "Voice Your Choice" since it went live Sunday night, with almost 250,00o message board views and 12,000 messages posted as of Thursday. Whether the politically focused section will be maintained after the election remains to be determined, she said.

IVillage drew nearly 20 million unique visitors in August, according to comScore.--Mark Walsh