NEWS RELEASE: For press contact see www.momsrising.org/press

Governor Sarah Palin’s Office Refuses to Accept Letter from America’s Moms

MomsRising.org Attempts to Deliver Letter Asking Governor’s Positions
on Family-Friendly Issues

See pictures of the attempted delivery here

Fifteen DC-area moms and MomsRising.org Executive Director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner were turned away this afternoon when they attempted to deliver a letter to Governor Sarah Palin asking her to share her positions on issues like health care, paid sick days and flexible work options. The group was attempting to deliver the letter to the State of Alaska office in Washington, DC.

The letter was signed by nearly 22,000 moms, dads and others from across the United States who would like to know what a McCain/Palin administration would do to support America’s families.

“We are extremely disappointed that we were not even allowed to deliver this letter today,” said Rowe-Finkbeiner. “Health care, paid sick days, paid family leave and afterschool programs are among the issues that are top-of-mind for many families. We were told that we need to mail in our letter and we’re going to do that. We are still counting on Governor Palin to respond to us. ”

The letter says in part:

“It was dazzling to see a mom on the stage at the Republican convention accepting the Vice Presidential nomination. There are too few mothers in the boardrooms and high levels of political office. As members of MomsRising.org we celebrate your path from PTA to Vice Presidential candidate, but we didn't hear much in your speech about what you and your party will do for mothers and families.

“… Our nation can’t afford to ignore the issues of mothers and families any longer. We want to know where you stand on the issues which are critical to mothers like healthcare, fair pay, paid family and medical leave, afterschool programs, childcare/early learning, paid sick days, and flexible work options.

“With now three-quarters of American mothers in the labor force, but a societal structure which hasn’t caught up to that modern reality, we, as a nation, are at a crisis point for our families. Bottom Line: Mothers want to ensure the well-being of their families. No mother should have to choose between taking care of a sick child and feeding her child. And no mother should have to choose between taking her child to the doctor and paying rent.

“Governor Palin, if elected Vice President of the United States, how will you support mothers and families?”

The full text is available on the MomsRising.org web site at www.momsrising.org. MomsRising.org will mail the letter to Governor Palin’s four regional offices, her Washington, DC office and McCain/Palin campaign offices.

The letter is part of MomsRising.org’s MomsVote ’08 effort, which includes Get-Out-the-Vote activities, debate watches, voter registration and educating the candidates about issues that matter to America’s families, like paid family leave, flexible work options, afterschool programs, health care for all children and affordable child care.

WHY PALIN? The reason why the letter was sent to Gov. Palin and not Sen. Biden is that the Biden/Obama campaign has very directly spoken in support of the central issues of MomsRising in his Presidential nomination acceptance speech. However, MomsRising members have yet to hear where the McCain/Palin ticket stands on those same issues. MomsRising members are tracking where candidates stand on the issues through our Candidate Bingo Project and will continue to do so in the upcoming debates. All candidates--female, male, Democrat, Republican, and other--should speak to the issues of America's families.

UPDATE: Thanks everyone for your comments. MomsRising has delivered petitions, letters, baby onesies, personal stories, and other public communications from our membership to dozens of other public officials across the country and in Washington, DC. These offices are paid for with public money, and are open to the public. This is the first time any public official's office has refused to accept any materials from our members.

As Governor Palin's staff suggested, we will mail the letter and nearly 22,000 signatures to their D.C. office. We'll also mail the package to Governor Palin's other offices.

We eagerly anticipate the Vice Presidential Debate, where we hope both candidates will have the opportunity to address these issues.