The doctor is in, and she wants you to vote for Barack Obama.
On Saturday night, actress Kate Walsh - best known for playing Dr. Addison Montgomery on ABC's Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice - stepped out of her Hollywood role to voice her support for Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama to more than 200 students at the Class of 1949 Auditorium in Houston Hall.
"Every last person has to vote," said Walsh, who made sure that every student knew that it's "perfectly legal to register to vote" in Pennsylvania.
Sponsored by Penn Democrats and Penn for Obama, the event was designed to rally supporters and activists for Obama ahead of the November presidential election against Republican nominee Sen. John McCain.
"McCain's policies are fatal," said Walsh, who said she believes Americans are "on the edge" for health care and women's rights.
And while Walsh said her celebrity status has helped her connect with students across Pennsylvania, she told the audience that she has experienced many of their own concerns.
Walsh said it took her decades to pay off her college loans and that she would "pray [she] wouldn't get sick" when she lacked health insurance for a few years after she finished college.
"That's unacceptable," she said. Walsh then touted Obama's health care policy that would seek to insure every American.
Walsh also praised the "grass-roots" student movement, saying that it had refuted the belief that "students won't come out to vote."
College junior Lauren Burdette, president of Penn Dems, said at the event that the organization has been working hard to register voters before the Oct. 6 registration deadline.
However, Burdette said she is skeptical that all students are registering properly, and whether they have registered at their current address.
Recognizing that there were three times as many women as men at Saturday's event, Walsh turned her attention to women's issues.
Walsh said Republican vice-presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin would not automatically draw female voters to the Republican ticket.
In an interview after the event, Walsh said women and former supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton "were not so simplistic" to replace Palin for Clinton.
"John McCain doesn't care about women's health issues," Walsh said, adding that it was "absurd" to have Viagra, but not birth control, covered by insurance companies.
"You have to be wealthy to be on birth control," Walsh continued, to the applause of the crowd.
