What an election! There was a clear choice made on Election night and people, including women and moms, made a strong statement.  Our nation voted to continue increasing access to affordable health care.  Our nation voted to keep moving forward on fair pay for women.  Our nation voted to not redefine rape.  Our nation voted to not veto the DREAM Act.  And we voted to make sure that the very wealthy aren’t paying lower taxes than those who are struggling. It was a good night because on the whole we voted together to move forward as a country where women’s economic security is also our national economic security.  And yes, as we all voted on Election Day, we also voted more women into office.

That was a moment of celebration, but I’m not done with this work yet.  I’m keeping my sleeves rolled up because while I’m celebrating that women now comprise nearly 20 percent of the U.S. Senate and about 18 percent of the U.S. House, that still means that we have a long way to go toward equality.  We’re not even half way there yet.  So we’re going to keep working on it.  We’re going to talk about all of this today.  We’re going talk about who voted.  We’re going talk about the impact of the mom vote, of the women’s vote, and of the Latino vote, and more.  We’re going to hear from experts about how social media impacted the outcome of this election.  We’re going hear about why more women won this year and we’re also going to talk about what’s ahead for our nation and how the party went in Chicago.  I’m so glad you’re listening – let’s jump right in.

**You can hear the whole show now by clicking here to get the podcast: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

Special guests include:

•   Sam Bennet, President and CEO of the Women’s Campaign Fund

•   Matt Barreto, Co-Founder of Latino Decisions and University of Washington Professor

•   David Schuster, Host of Take Action News on We Act Radio

•   Kimberley Ellis, Scholar, Artist & Activist

•   Eric Liu, Author, Former Clinton Policy Advisor and Speechwriter, as well as Founder of Guiding Lights 

***LISTEN to the entire “MomsRising with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner” radioshow here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

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“The Post-Election Lowdown” MomsRising Radio with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner Highlights:

Sam Bennet is the President and CEO of the Women’s Campaign Fund:

On women running for office: (At 5:45 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“…We had some unbelievable women running incredible races in the Senate.  It was just remarkable, but the truth of the matter is that whatever the heck you want to call it, the “War on Women” ended up working to these women’s advantage.  And because these women and their campaigns were really smart about it, they called it out for what it was.  They didn’t ignore it.  They called it sexist.  They used the “S” word. You've got to deal with it head on.  As long as you deal with it head on, you win."

“We all know however we had a record number of women running for Congress and a record number of women running for Senate and the results speak for that.  So that’s the other thing in this, it’s a numbers game. We’re ranked 95th in the world not because American women don’t win when they run because they do.  It’s not that they don’t raise enough money, because they raise more money than the guys, our research shows now.  The trick is they’re not running.”

Dr. Matt Barreto is the Co-Founder of Latino Decisions and a Professor at the University of Washington

On immigration reform: (At  21:13 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“…And immigration reform for the Latino community has to be on the table.  I think that if it’s not, it’s going to create a huge rift between Latinos and the Democratic Party.   I think Republicans are finally starting to get that this is an opportunity for them; that they can address immigration reform, show that they’re compassionate and understanding, and perhaps that will help them with the Latino vote down the road.”

On the Asian American voters: (At 25:20 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“Asian Americans eclipsed the three percent of the national electorate mark this year and they are the fastest growing in terms of percentages – faster growing than Latinos.  Asian Americans are the fastest growing segment of the electorate; that is they’re 3 percent now, they’ll be 4, 5, 6 percent in the future, and the projections are that within our lifetime, they’ll be up to 10 percent.  And that is going to be extremely relevant at the presidential level in key states like Virginia”

David Schuster is the host of Take Action News on We Act Radio

On how Twitter acts as an accuracy meter: (At 34:20 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“I think that the ability of Twitter to react so quickly and almost literally in real time is better for all of us because it means there’s a certain accuracy that has to be required of all of us, otherwise you get checked very quickly on Twitter and information spreads that much faster.”

Kimberley Ellis is an ward winning scholar, artist, activist who is also affectionately known as Dr. Goddess on Twitter and beyond. 

On the role social media played in the election : (At 42:35 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“We don’t have Koch Brother money.  But we do have heart and soul and opinion and we have clear addresses and Facebook profiles and websites. I think that what we did to ensure that the American public stayed educated and up to date was phenomenal and it literally transformed the energy and the universe.  I mean, this is how deep I’m taking it, is that this was not just an election.  This said, this is America; we are the Americans, all of us. We’re white, black, Asian, Latino. We are women.  We’re men.  We’re young.  We’re old.  This is the America that we want.  We don’t just want a, heterogeneous population controlling everything.  And I love what we did. We literally cast a vote for humanity on November 6th.  That’s what we did.”

Eric Liu is an author, former Clinton policy advisor and speechwriter, as well as Founder of Guiding Lights

“Well my take is that we should remember one of the things that President Obama said in his speech Tuesday night, which was citizenship doesn’t end with the act of voting.  In many ways, it only begins with it.  As for all the ways in which Election Day is this Super Bowl/Olympicsstyle big festive moment, really what matters now is how all of us choose to and decide to show up in continuing the work on whatever the issue may be.  I think looking at this election, and again not just for Democrats and progressives like me, but across the whole political spectrum, there was an incredible level of engagement.  There was an incredible level of spending – yes, we’re all aware of that.  But just in terms of people hours and feet on the street and calls being made and social media, by those kinds of measures, there’s a lot to be hopeful about – that people feel like and sense that our system is open to and capable of engagement by lots and lots of everyday folks.”