She's a Mom, But Where Does She Stand?

Did you see that?! A mom on center stage at the Republican convention accepting the Vice Presidential nomination and holding a baby.

There are too few mothers in the boardrooms and high levels of political office, and we need more of them. In fact, women comprise only 16% of Congress (the U.S. ranks a world low of 71st in women's representation in national legislatures--below Pakistan, Italy, Bolivia, Rwanda, Argentina, France, China, Canada, and 63 other countries). And, women hold only 6.7% of top-paying positions in Fortune 500 countries. A measly 6.7%!

Obviously, more women need to be seated in the highest offices. That's something that most of us can agree on.

But while it was good to see a woman on center stage accepting the Vice Presidential nomination (for only the second time in the history of our nation), I didn't hear much in Gov. Palin's acceptance speech--or since--about what she, and her running mate Sen. McCain, will do about the issues which impact the 83 million mothers in our nation each and every day.

This mom wants to know: Where does Gov. Palin stand? Where does she stand on issues which are important to mothers like healthcare, fair pay, paid family and medical leave, afterschool programs, childcare/early learning, paid sick days, and flexible work options.

Whether you are a mother, or have a mother, the moms of our nation expect every candidate to tackle the shared issues of our nation's families. We also know full well from decades of stalled family-friendly legislation that just because someone is a mom (or has a mom) doesn't mean they automatically support the policies which are central to the economic security of mothers and families.

As the candidate debates draw near, and with an election that's neck-and-neck in the polls, now's the time to ask candidates to share their positions on critical issues. Let's demand that the national political discussion is one of substance while this nomination is a hot topic in coffee shops, at water coolers, and around dinner tables across the nation.

Let's change the conversation. The conversation shouldn't be about how many kids Gov. Palin has, which is essentially unchecked gender bias, it should be about the issues--and where she stands on them. After all, we've had fathers in the White House for a couple hundred years and the mere fact of any of those male candidates having children has yet to be an election issue. Just to show how ridiculous this is: Why is it that everyone knows that Gov. Palin has five children, but few know how many children Sen. Biden has?

Right about now you might be wondering: Why don't we know where Gov. Palin stands, anyway? Isn't disclosing where you stand on issues so that voters can choose their candidate a big part of running for public office? Well, it's not a conspiracy that we don't know where Gov. Palin stands, but it's definitely a serious bout of opportunistic pessimism on the part of political campaign operatives.

Turns out that this lack of focus on issues right now isn't an accident. In fact, McCain campaign manager, Rick Davis, recently said, and I quote: "This election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."

What!?

In fact, the McCain campaign made an active decision not to have Gov. Palin do interviews with the national media right now. It seems they essentially want to avoid the issues--and to leave us just with that image of a woman on the stage, "a composite view" as Davis said, of sorts, as if the American public only needs a Technicolor picture to make decisions about the future direction of our country. It's downright insulting to voters.

To that point, here's a Fox News transcriptof the Sept. 7, 2008, edition of "FOX News Sunday With Chris Wallace" of a conversation between McCain campaign manager and Chris Wallace on the topic of keeping Gov. Palin out of interviews that went up today:

WALLACE: But let me move on to something else. Governor Palin has given some very good speeches this week, and I think everybody, Republican or Democrat, would say that she was very effective at the Republican convention.

She has not answered a single question from the national media. When is she going to agree to an interview?

DAVIS: She'll agree to an interview when we think it's time and when she feels comfortable doing it.

Voters know that this election really is about the issues--that it's not about some Technicolor "composite view" of candidates. These issues are as real to many of us as paying for rent, taking our children to the doctor, and putting food on the dinner table

Let's not let any candidate (or political campaign operative) forget that more than 50% of the electorate are women; and over 80% of women in our nation have children by the time they are forty-four. Suffice to say that moms pack a powerful political punch. It's time to come together and use that power to make sure our issues get the attention they deserve--for our children, for ourselves, and for the future economic security of our nation.

Join with me and MomsRising.org in sending an open letter to Gov. Palin asking where she stands now, and then moms in Alaska will deliver the letter with your signatures. Help put the pressure on for candidates to share their positions on the issues which impact our nation's families each and every day.

Follow Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner on Twitter: www.twitter.com/rowefinkbeiner

Comments

[diplomat685]

Just the facts ma'am......

Whatever side of the debate you are on, make your voice informed, effective and honest. Don't be an inadvertent spreader of false information. Speak with integrity about those things you can verify are true. It's so easy. Instead of just: "think before you speak", how about: "Think, then factcheck.com, then speak". It will elevate the level of debate so that it is worthy of all of us. Happy fact checking!

factcheck.com
factcheck.com
factcheck.com

[mcer]

As a single mom, working and going to school, I can't relate to Sarah Palin... AT ALL. I can't afford to have five children. I can't afford to let my child play hockey. So, sorry folks as far as I'm concerned this "Hockey Mom" who refuses to speak to my issues is just a bit too elitist for me.
Why is there such hype for this woman?
Why are so many people blindly ignoring what she has already said and done so far? What do we know so far about her...
She has been fighting an investigation into the fact that she abused her position to get a someone fired for her own personal reasons; Someone who by the way was a champion for abused women. We know that she has lied about being against the "Bridge to Nowhere", and continues to do so. We know her inauguration was sponsored by big oil (BP).
Does any of this bother anyone!!!?
And how does she get away with putting down a man who did community outreach instead of finding ways to cash in on being an ivy league law graduate. She stated at the Republican Convention, to great applause, that Barak Obama's experience as a community organizer did not require leadership or responsibility ? As if his work helping the quality of life for all people, is nothing of significance in this country!
.....Why would this not bother anyone..black, white ,male, or female?!!!

[BrendaFaye]

I'm in total agreement with you. Choosing her as a running mate is a mockery of women everywhere. The ONLY reason she was chosen was to patronize us and get their fair portion of Hillary's 18 million votes. It literally makes me sick to my stomach.

I am infuriated by their actions...but more than that..I will do all I can do to see that the Commander and Chief of our great country is Barrack Obama. God help us if the republicans get in there. And I for one will be on the steps of our capitol is the voting is suspicious and manhandled in any way.

I'm not going to sign the open letter simply because I really don't care where Sara stands on anything. I don't trust her at all...she's merely a puppet and God help us if she ever became president.

THE TIMES, THEY ARE A CHANGIN!

[diplomat685]

The Elephant in the Room
In all the fuss about Palin we have failed to see the "elephant in the room". What we missed was that Palin described herself as a "hockey Mom"; not as a "working mom". You're not just a "hockey mom" when you have earned over three quarters of a million dollars as a professional politician .
Maybe Palin feels she 's not really a "working mom" because she has had the luxury of taking her children to work with her. While it makes a cute photo op to hear that Governor Palin kept her baby in a basket under her desk, it begs an answer to a larger question. How about the rest of us? I would challenge Palin to name one person she has ever employed who was allowed the liberty of bringing her (or his) children to work with them. I'd like to ask whoever types her memos, services her computers, makes her mochas, or cleans the bathrooms in the state house if their children have been welcome on the job? The hypocrisy is significant since Palin touts her shared life experience with "regular Americans" as a major qualification for running our country. We've heard nothing about her positions on child care, family leave, flex time etc. Those are things that working moms, and "hockey" moms, need their representatives to deal with. We can get our own hockey sticks!

[Plangardengal]

Kristin and others: yes, let's focus on issues and get the race, gender, occupation topic away from the news/blogs. Human nature is such that we gravitate towards those with whom we can even partially identify - it is SO easy to exploit this. Please think before firing (or firing back)!

[klondiker]

My main opposition to Palin is not because of where she stands on the issues (although, her extremist positions certainly don't help).

My main opposition to her is the fact that she is profoundly unqualified to be vice president, almost to the extent of being dangerous. Complex issues like the economy, health care, global warming require someone who, at the very least, can think through complex problems, analyze them, and work out solutions that are based on data, not moral judgements.

With fear of sounding elitst, a person who attended five colleges before graduating from the University of Idaho and didn't hold a passport until 2006 is NOT qualified to be vice president.

[LeftRight]

I'm less concerned about that, since only one person has taken office "ready on day one". I'm more concerned about the fact that she doesn't match the policies that Americans support!

[mcthfg]

Don't you already know where she stands? I think it's pretty lazy not to be able to draw out her beliefs from her past actions.

Think about the worst positions a human being can have on any subject - those are her positions.

[LeftRight]

Rather than what she will do for mothers, let's ask what she will do for PEOPLE! Fathers, Mothers, children, single people, ALL of us matter!!!!

[diplomat685]

Real Knowledge has Real Power

It's not "lazy" to ask about Palin's positions. it takes energy and active thought to ask the questions, listen for the answers, and then form opinions. Sharing opinions that come from fact based inquiry have the power to change people's minds. It's easy, and fun, to assume that she is just a caricature of our worst collective fears, but when we do that, we run the risk of being caught off guard when we are trying to make the case against McCain and Palin. Learn just one solid verifiable fact about their positions and watch what happens. When other people are frantically trying to figure out why this woman punches all their buttons, or McCain scares them, you can be the voice of clarity and reason. When people are spreading misleading information, you can be the one who says: "That's interesting, but the facts are....". That's when you become an effective advocate--not just an opinionated talker. Ask the questions, so you can be sure of the answers, and then.....share what you know.