Voting Like Our Kids Depend on It

“Our children are our country’s future”

“Kids can’t vote, but we can vote for them.”

Repeated often during campaign seasons, these start to sound like tired old clichés. But they are clichés only because we’ve too often given lip-service—rather tan resources—to our children, both here and abroad.

Take couple of minutes top look over some great material from the nonpartisan Children’s Defense Fund to get a sense of where the candidate you’ll be choosing stand on one important issue: health care coverage for kids.

1. For candidates that are currently a Member of Congress, check out the CDF Action Council Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard. You can find out who are the best and the worst Members of Congress for children and access past CDF Action Council scorecards to see their entire history on voting for children.


2. Find out which candidates have signed the CDF Action Council Pledge so far to support health coverage for all children in their campaign and once they are elected. If your candidates have not yet signed the pledge, send them an email today (and encourage your friends to join you) urging them to do so.


3. Learn more about the 2008 Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates' overall Scorecard scores. A look at the voting records of the candidates.


4. Find out how the 2008 Presidential candidates' plans compare when it comes to children's issues (pdf).

If you haven’t registered to vote, do it immediately. And if you feel like your vote won’t make any difference, or that there should be a pox on every candidate’s house, I encourage you to do two things:

• Look your child in the eye and then decide whether you can really afford to blow them off by blowing off your vote.


• Read a popular history of the Constitutional Convention, Civil War or Supreme Court…you’ll never look at the political process the same way again (or ever again devalue your own vote).