Moms Rising

I have to thank the McCain campaign. If they hadn’t made news by ticking off Moms Rising, I never would have heard about this group. The LA Times wrote that they tried to approach the McCain- Palin campaign with a letter asking to learn about Sarah Palin’s views on supporting working families and were told to put it in the mail. Oooo, bad move. The group of 140,000 members is forwarding the letter to Gwen Ifil of Public Broadcasting, whom not only do I adore, but happens to be the moderator of the VP debate scheduled for October 2. (Scheduled, not for sure. Who knows whether any of the debates will take place as planned this season.) MR wants their questions to be put to both candidates in live debate so that if they aren’t answered directly to the group can be answered publicly.

So, reading this story took me to the group’s website and acquainted me with their cause. Which is mine. Which is supporting families with family-friendly policies around issues like child care, and medical leave and fair wages. I’m generally leery of family-friendly nonprofits because they often hail from a more conservative bent than I abide by. Or they are deeply rooted in a religious perspective that is not mine.

I haven’t read the whole site – it’s pretty big – but it looks like this group holds up the mantel of the importance of mother and fathers and families and wants those in public office, in the public eye and the public in general to show due respect. Cool.

So the issue of the day seems to be that the group is impressed as all get out that a mother is running for VP (yes fathers are too, but their parenthood has not been held out for public discourse the way Sarah Palin’s has). What Moms Rising seems to want is to hear what her views are regarding the role of government in supporting families. They have a scorecard to follow along when all the candidates speak (for instance in their convention acceptance speeches) to note their mentions of policies or supports to families. But in Palin’s case, the question seems to be from mothers to a mother about her support of well, mothers.

I’d love to hear your thoughts or experiences with Moms Rising. Is there more or less to it than my cursory glance at their site offers? If they are as neutral and well-versed as they appear, I am thrilled to find another advocacy group for families.

~ by modelmom on September 25, 2008.