There are just under 16 weeks until the New Hampshire primary – 16 weeks, 111 days, it seems so long, and yet – throw in Christmas, New Years and a snow storm or two, and it will be February 9th before you know it.

In New Hampshire we take our politics quite seriously, and we expect the candidates to take us seriously too! Before this is over candidates will have traipsed through our state from Woodstock to Seabrook and everywhere in between. We do indeed have access, but are we sure we are getting the substance that we need to inform our decisions?

While I was listening to the Democratic debate, I was struck by the level of policy detail that the participants provided on such a range of issues. Maybe I am a bit of a policy geek, but I love to hear the ins and outs of how programs might work and understand the nuances of different approaches. While the Democrats provided some great food for thought – it only served to whet my appetite for further details from the Democrats and the same type of policy specifics from the Republican contenders.

We need to ensure that issues of vital importance and substance are being discussed. Many of us have tried to influence the debate moderators to ask questions that address the issues of importance to us; and some o have reached out individually to candidates or campaigns with their questions, but we have yet to see responses from all the candidates to the same slate of questions so that we could compare and contrast the responses.

In New Hampshire, MomsRising and EveryChildMatters are partnering with the University of New Hampshire Department of Social Work to do just that. We have invited every candidate to attend individual forums over the next six weeks to discuss the issues that matter to our collective members.

Where do the candidates stand on affordable high quality childcare and earned sick time? How about your plan for paid family leave or making college more affordable?

We want to give every candidate the opportunity to speak their mind and educate us on their positions. These Forums are free and open to the public – we will ask each candidate the same questions and allow them to explain where they stand.

Please join us in asking the candidates to sign up. If you can please help us by tweeting to the candidates directing them to our information page – I would greatly appreciate it! The invitation is at http://www.everychildmatters.org/national-activities/new-hampshire-candidate-forums/candidate-invitation. Guidance on tweets is available at  http://www.everychildmatters.org/national-activities/new-hampshire-candidate-forums.