Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of participating in a national conference call with Senator Joe Biden along with hundreds of other fellow advocates and activists (men and women) on the front lines in the fight against Domestic Violence.
Senator Biden speaking from a cell phone in his campaign bus gave us the straight talk for over 30 minutes about how we are doing "God's work." He pledged that in an Obama-Biden Administration that they would create a full-time White House staff advisory position with the responsibility to report on violence against women and coordinate a focused Domestic Violence effort to fight the "abuse of power and our society's ugliest, dirtiest little secret!"
It just so happened that Tuesday also coincided with the 2 millionth call to the federally funded National Domestic Violence Hotline since its humble beginning in 1994 from people (averaging 650 calls per day) seeking help and relief from Domestic Violence.
To be honest, more than anyone else, Senator Biden is due our gratitude and credit for that milestone as part of the landmark Violence Against Women Act of 1994 -- which he happened to point out that Senator McCain originally voted against, arguing that it was "ineffective and ill conceived."
Additionally, Senator Biden declared that "Barack and I promise you will have the strongest allies you will ever have in the fight against Domestic Violence" and then urged all of us to watch and share a video of a young mother in Texas and her personal story about Domestic Violence which can be viewed here.
On Tuesday, I read Senator Obama's statement he issued regarding Domestic Violence Awareness Month where he reiterated his strong support and continued commitment for this often silent epidemic.
Preaching to the choir and music to my ears this led me to fire up my Internets and use the Google to seek out the position papers from both the Obama and McCain campaigns.
Here is what I found:
On www.BarackObama.com there is a very clear and concise position and Domestic Violence fact sheet titled "BARACK OBAMA: ENDING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN"
On www.JohmMcCain.com I did not find anything relating to nor making mention of Domestic Violence, just a general "Crime-Fighting Strategy."
I recognize that most people are not single issue voters. However, one thing is pretty clear to me - with domestic violence directly impacting one in three women in their lifetime, the Obama-Biden campaign gets "it" - Freedom from Domestic Violence is not a responsibility, it is our right and I commend them for having the sense and compassion to address it.
With 10 days to go before the election, another thing is pretty clear, with regard to Domestic Violence, the McCain-Palin campaign apparently does not get "it" and prefers attempting to replace this serious issue with awkward jokes: "(Chuckling) And I stopped beating my wife just a couple of weeks ago...." - which may just not cut it with voters who care strongly about this issue.
Becky Lee
Becky@beckysfund.org