VOTE | Of Mitt and Women: Choose Your Candidate Wisely

Gentle readers, it's been a while since your MatchGirl has posted here.

Forgive me for that.

There are reasons, but they are not important.



What is vitally important is that you go out and vote on November 6th.

You may or may not know that November 6 is your MatchGirl's birthday. And this year, albeit a little late in the game, I have decided, in lieue of all the gifts and cocktails you were going to buy me (not you Boyfriend), that I would love it if people would donate a little bit, whatever you can spare, to support the President's re-election. If you're in, click here.

The image above shows suffragettes, women who had to work hard to get the right to vote. To get the smallest bit of recognition. For whom equality was a dream.

"No self respecting woman should wish or work for the success of a party that ignores her sex." 

Susan B. Anthony. 

Oh, dear readers, your MatchGirl could not agree more!

You know that your MatchGirl is an outspoken liberal, a supporter of the working class, someone who has seen hard times, who grew up in a family that made less than the average family on the block, a defender of women's equality. You know how important I think it is to get out and vote.

So you might be surprised that your MatchGirl is not going to tell you how to vote.
No. That's not my place.
I hope you'll vote the way that I will, (and donate to the cause) but more importantly, I hope you will look at everything that is at stake - truly at stake - and vote with your heart.
It's a big deal.

A few things to keep in mind as you make your way to the polls on November 6th:

Four of our Supreme Court Justices are over 70 years old. And while Supreme Court Justices often stay on the bench till well into their 80s, there is a definite possibility that the next elected president of the United States could shape the face of the coming court.

What does that mean?
It means that women's rights could be set back. Not just when it comes to making their own health care choices, though the Romney/Ryan ticket has vowed to overturn Roe v Wade, and both have gone on record at various times to say that they don't believe choice should ever be an option (still Ryan's postion, though now Romney has the nomination, he's pulled back a teensy bit).

Let's keep going.

It also means no fair pay act for women. Because Mitt Romney does not believe that women are equal. Beyond needing binders full of them.

Let's talk unemployment and the economy. Sure, Mitt Romney knows how to buy and sell companies. He knows how to make some cash. He knows how to outsource jobs to China. But while Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt didn't have astronomical job growth, as he tries to spin and as he promises that e'll bring to the country. Sure, he had some growth and left MA a little better, perhaps, than he found it. But he didn't win a second term. There's a good post on the Boston Globe website laying out the facts in a pretty even way.

The Salt Lake City Tribune, a fairly progressive paper in a lees-progressive state, came out recently with an endorsement of President Obama. A lot of people were floored (of course, a lot of people also think that Mitt Romney is from Utah because of his Religion - he's from Michigan) by this endorsement.

And so, dear readers, I'll leave you with their closing remarks:

In considering which candidate to endorse, The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board had hoped that Romney would exhibit the same talents for organization, pragmatic problem solving and inspired leadership that he displayed here more than a decade ago [with the Olympics]. Instead, we have watched him morph into a friend of the far right, then tack toward the center with breathtaking aplomb. Through a pair of presidential debates, Romney’s domestic agenda remains bereft of detail and worthy of mistrust.

Therefore, our endorsement must go to the incumbent, a competent leader who, against tough odds, has guided the country through catastrophe and set a course that, while rocky, is pointing toward a brighter day. The president has earned a second term. Romney, in whatever guise, does not deserve a first.

I'm with the Salt Lake City Tribune. The reasons that I've laid out above? Those are just some of the reasons that I will be casting my ballot for President Obama and Vice President Biden on November 6. I won't tell you how to vote, but I hope you'll see fit to vote the same way.