I Only Need One Reason

PunditGirl.  My eight-year-old daughter is the only reason I need to vote for Barack Obama on Tuesday.

This has been a long and grueling campaign, not only for the candidates but for people of similar politics whose choices of candidates did not always match up throughout the last 50 two years of this presidential campaign.

Sure, there are a lot of issues I feel strongly about -- making sure our children have decent health care, praying that the economy recovers sooner rather than later, and keeping the whole world safe from terror.

But as a woman and a mother, there are things I have felt lucky and privileged to have and I am afraid that without Barack Obama, they won't be there for my daughter when she is a woman.

Things like access to birth control, the ability to choose from among all jobs and careers, and being able to speak out strongly and confidently about her opinions (FYI -- she's well on her way to that one, already!).

The women's movement in the 1960s and 1970s helped ensure that, as I was coming of age, I had so many more avenues open to me than the generations of women before me.  I am happy and grateful that I was able to benefit from the battles Gloria Steinem and others fought.

But the fight isn't done, as has been clear from the John McCain/Sarah Palin ticket.  As the leaders of the GOP, they don't think it's necessary to have legal protections so that women get paid equal wages for equal work.  The current administration that they are beholden to is doing its best to undermine and take away safe birth control and our reproductive rights, and there is little on the minds of the GOP to help working families (especially working mothers) keep their delicately balanced juggling act from falling apart.

PunditGirl is only in third-grade.  But as I was reminded by one of the moms up the street, the days might go slowly, but the years go quickly, and soon enough PunditGirl will be out there on her own, needing to make decisions about her life, her body and her opinions.

We've all worked so hard to get where we are -- and there is so much more work to do -- I fear the inevitable backslide if John McCain moves into the White House and keeps insisting that women would be fine if only we worked harder and got more education and training.

And that's why PunditGirl is the only reason I need to vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden tomorrow.  I need them to make sure that PunditGirl at least has the benefit of the fights women have won so far, and hopefully the benefits of a few we might be able to win with Democrats in the White House again.

Joanne is waiting to exhale after all the election results are in tomorrow night.  In the meantime, you can find her at her place, PunditMom.

Comments

[Lawyer Mama]

Great post and great reminder of what we're fighting for.

I'm holding my breathe too.