As we are now counting the days to the primaries and caucuses in January,
I'm assuming (hoping? praying?) that voters will become more focused on the
candidates, both Democratic and Republican, and where they stand on the
issues that are most important to them.
As you can probably guess from reading my posts, I tend to lean just a
teensy little bit to the left in my politics!
I've paid a lot of attention to where the Democrats stand on issues that
impact women, regardless of the political affiliation of those women --
work/family balance, the Family and Medical Leave Act, Roe v. Wade, child
care, and health care for mothers and children, just to a name a few.
So, in fairness, I thought I should take a quick tour of some of the
candidates' official websites to see what they've chosen to highlight in
terms of issues that would resonate with women voters.
And I have to say, I was shocked. At least from what they've got on their
sites, it seems like the Republicans aren't very interested in women.
Granted, all issues are, in one way or another, women's issues. But I'm
looking for something specific about the ones we tend to deal with a lot
more than our husbands, partners and significant others.
As for the Democrats, they all have places on their websites to address the
so-called "women's issues." John Edwards has his Promise for American Women.
Chris Dodd wrote the Family and Medical Leave Act. Hillary Clinton is
calling herself a "Champion for Women." Joe Biden has a whole section on his
website called "Empowering Women to Take Charge."
So I assumed that the GOP candidates would have similar topics on their
sites.
I'm still looking.
Sure, they've included those buzz words "family" and "life," but the main
focus is on the war and the economy. Of course those are incredibly
important issues, but since women voters are the acknowledged key to the
election this political season, wouldn't you think that a few of them would
devote a little web space to explaining their positions on helping women,
and families, solve the practical problems we all face in our lives? And
where do they stand on another important agenda item -- children??
Are they just not thinking about us?
Mike Huckabee talks about "Faith and Politics" and "The Sanctity of Life,"
but I don't see a mention of working moms and the challenges we face.
Mitt Romney places "Defeating the Jihadists" above most other issues on his
site, but I didn't see anything about the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Rudy Giuliani? John McCain? Fred Thompson? None have a separate agenda item
on their sites about women, as the Democrats do.
So what's that all about? I'm sure somewhere in a speech or written release,
the Republican candidates have uttered some words on this topic. But why
have they left that information off their websites -- the best and easiest
place for a voter to get the information they're looking for?
Republicans, if you want some of us women to vote for you (sorry, it won't
be me, but I know they're out there), maybe you should spend a little time
thinking about what's important to women voters and what you have to say
about the issues we deal with pretty much every day.
Presidential candidates -- even though you may think otherwise, this
election isn't all about you.