News release
Moms Pack a Political Punch in 2008 Election
November 5, 2008
Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996
MomsRising.org, the national online and on-the-ground grassroots organization for moms and anyone who has a mom, today celebrated the election of a President who has spoken powerfully about valuing families and has put economic security policies for families at the front his political agenda.
“This was an historic election in many, many ways,” said MomsRising.org Executive Director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner. “And this year, moms across America helped make history. Moms played a key role in electing President-Elect Barack Obama. Women are more than half of the electorate, and eight in ten of women in our nation have children by the time they are 44. Moms pack a powerful political punch. Senator Obama pulled ahead in the polls with women precisely because he addressed the shared issues not only of healthcare and education, but also of fair pay, paid family leave, sick time, and early learning--as well as other issues which are critical to the current and, more importantly, future national economic security for mothers and families.”
The New York Times, in its post-election analysis of exit polls this morning, found that moms played a major role in determining the outcome of this election: “Among the Republican-leaning groups that moved into the Democratic column for Mr. Obama were mothers and Catholics.”
During the 2008 elections, MomsRising.org launched and ran a unique and powerful campaign to call attention to the “kitchen table” issues that affect the economic security of all families across the United States and to mobilize moms to vote. That campaign, MomsVote ’08, included a wide array of online and on-the-ground activities.
“It’s a tribute to our members and to moms everywhere that we were able to make such a difference in this election,” said MomsRising.org President Joan Blades. “Whether we were marching toward the Republican and Democratic conventions with our thousands of baby ONEsies, keeping track of whether and how often the candidates addressed ‘kitchen table’ issues or urging our friends and neighbors to vote, we brought Mom Power to bear in 2008. Now we urge President-Elect Obama to continue to be a leader on the issues he has supported in the Senate and raised in his campaign – issues like paid family leave, health care for all children and an education system that truly leaves no child behind.”
MomsVote 08 kicked off in January with Power of ONEsie displays (displays of baby ONEsies decorated with messages about the importance of having a family-friendly nation) at the Democratic and Republican presidential primary debates in California. Over the next few months, MomsRising members took more than 134,000 actions through MomsVote ’08. They held house parties, played Presidential BINGO (using a “BINGO” card to track how often the presidential and vice presidential candidates mentioned family economic security issues during their speeches and the debates), went door-to-door to encourage their neighbors to register to vote and to vote, made Get Out The Vote calls and texted their friends on election day to remind them to vote.
Moms in Denver and St. Paul also participated in Power of ONEsie displays at the Democratic and Republican conventions, to encourage both parties to focus on family issues in the campaign. They also emailed a total of more than 20,000 letters to the debate moderators urging them to ask questions about issues that affect families in the U.S. MomsRising.org sent an open letter signed by tens of thousands of moms to Governor Sarah Palin asking where she stands on the issues that most affect families. In the closing hours of the election, MomsRising.org members made more than 16,000 Get Out the Mom Vote calls to infrequent voters.