With volunteers and partner organizations at our side, Every Child Matters has jumped into the Presidential election campaigns with an ambitious series of events to accomplish a formidable goal: getting the candidates to make children a priority and fulfilling that promise after the election. See our Events Calendar.

2008 is a milestone year. In this unique electoral season, we are riding the wave of opportunity that a new election offers. This is the year to insert the cause of children's well being into the campaigns and build a mass movement around children. We can poise the Presidential candidates to address poverty, education, and health care for kids while public scrutiny is heightened. We have a winning message to protect and provide for children. There's no controversy or partisanship here. The solutions are realistic and present.  The people's role is to remind those seeking the highest office that children must be atop their campaign agendas and a main focus in their administrations.

To start, we placed our grassroots organizing on a sound foundation of research. The release of the second edition of Homeland Insecurity lays bare the harms millions of children are facing and provides a realistic plan for investing in programs that can uplift children who are not getting enough food, schooling, parental support, or protection from abuse.  All the polls indicate overwhelming support for increased government investment in children.
 
Now, we turn to the campaign trail.
 
The Democratic National Convention will be held in Denver, CO in August, and all expectations are that this will be a media circus. We love a circus. In fact, we're organizing a Tykes on Trikes parade before the convention to grab some attention of the politicos and journos and show them that children are a constituency that won't be overlooked this year. 
 
Following on the heels of Denver, it's the Republicans turn in the limelight in St. Paul, MN. We are hosting a Children and Youth Convention before the Republican's gather on August 27th. Our convention will demonstrate the importance of civic engagement and how to turn one's personal interest in kids into political action, along with some fun and games, too.

Just after the political parties officially endorse the candidates, people will gather together as a nation for an extraordinary day of action on Sept 16.  Step Up for Kids Day is a nation-wide day of awareness Every Child Matters is organizing on the Capitol steps in DC and all 50 states to draw public attention to children. Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, the respected pediatrician and child advocate, will kick off the day at the National Press Club in Washington D.C., as people in every state raise their voices in a shared call to our next President: Please support children in word and deed!

After the conventions, the President and VP candidates go through a series of televised debates, and we'll be at each one making noise. Local kids and advocates will hold a Kids Convention in Mississippi; the first Presidential debate will be held in Oxford, MS on September 26. ECM is also planning public rallies before the VP debate in St. Louis (Oct 2) and the Presidential debates in Nashville (Oct 7) and Long Island, NY (Oct 15).

And before we catch our breath, Halloween is upon us, which is a great day for kids, and a great chance to ask adults to consider children when they vote. Our Treat Kids and Vote Day will be the final get-out-the-vote push in swing states across the country. You might spy one of our orange pumpkin trick-or-treat bags in the hands of a little princess, batman or Transformer on Halloween night (with a voting info card inside for their parents).
 
The finish line, of course, is Election Day November 4. Our next President is not likely to take decisive action on children's issues unless he sees a citizenry who votes for children. We have only a number of weeks to inspire the public to match their concern for kids with their civic duty in voting.  Let's organize.

–Mick Schommer in Washington, DC

Comments (6)

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written by Louis Logan, August 18, 2008

Thanks for taking a strong stand for kids! Louis Logan

Focus on Children, not fearmongering and partisan politics.
written by Daniel, August 15, 2008

I'd say that if you want to take a partisan line (and please note, Every Child Matters is non-partisan, unless something has changed recently that I don't know about), I'd have to say that in general, the Republican party is way more "Pro-Death" than the Democratic party. For example, in your great state of South Carolina, where a defendant can be executed without even being a murderer (so the whole "eye-for-an-eye" thing really doesn't work there), the leadership is Republican. Your Senators and Governor are Republican, and there, according to the SC Department of Corrections website , "[t]he youngest person executed was a 14 year old black male." A 14 year old probably should have not even been tried as an adult, much less executed. Maybe all he needed was a little help, but I guess sometimes it's easier to take a life than to try to help.

So what was that about Democrats being pro-death?

I'd also like to point out that many Republican's who are so strongly opposed to abortion are the same people who want to ban sexual education and contraception, and there wouldn't be as many abortions, no matter how legal, if there were better education on the issue. Some Republicans are now even pushing to classify certain forms of contraception as abortion, which is not only wrong, but will do nothing to help the children we already have who need our help.

More to the point, I read an article by Steven Waldman about Joel Hunter today that makes an interesting point on abortion. Basically what Mr. Hunter says is that rather than playing the partisan blame-game and trying to paint Democrats and Obama as abortion-craving monsters who practice infanticide, or trying to overturn Roe v. Wade, we should provide pregnant women with more financial and social support, which is just what the new Democratic abortion plank says (see below). To quote Mr. Hunter, "With eight years of Bush the abortion rates have not declined. Every indication is that with financial support and different forms of supporting pregnant mother and then some post birth help also we could come close to 50% reduction in abortions. That's huge. That's huge."

The Plank Reads:
"The Democratic Party also strongly supports a woman's decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre and post natal health care, parenting skills, income support, and caring adoption programs."

Sadly, there are many children in this great nation that don't have families and homes. It's a terrible state of affairs to be sure, but I don't think that you can make the argument that the Republican party cares any more about children or children's issues like health-care and education any more than the Democratic party does. Furthermore this shouldn't be about partisan politics in the first place. Save your rant for a liberal or conservative blog; the focus here shouldn't be one a particular political party or the other, or abortion, it should be on all the children that need our help.

Sources
SCDoC: http://www.doc.sc.gov/news/deathrow.jsp#execution

http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2008/08/dissecting-the-democrats-new-a.html

http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2008/08/joel-hunter-democrats-could-st.html

Pastor & Member of a Foster Care Review Board in SC
written by Max J. Kaster, August 14, 2008

You sure can't count on the Democrat Party having any concern for children, since their current leader, Barak Obama, would not support Illinois State legislation that would protect the life of a baby who survives the abortion attempt on its life. Further, the Democrat Party Platform now takes the strongest stand in history against the life of an un-born child, advocating almost unlimited slaughter of the unborn for any reason, and at any point in the gestation period.
You might find some compassion for children among the rank and file Democrats, but the leadership is "Pro-Death" when it comes to the un-born child.

Max J. Kaster, Pastor
Vice Chairman, Foster Care Review Board 1-A
State of South Carolina

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written by Aung, August 05, 2008

Yeah, I'll be there with kids, and any others I can round up!

Blogger
written by Mick at ECM, August 04, 2008

Thanks Louise. We'll plug you into the events!

Founder
written by Louise W. Wiener, July 30, 2008

It's about time. I am thrilled to see this level of organization and visibility and ready to help in any way I can. Bravo to the organizers. Louise Wiener

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