Election Time: Are You Ready?

Election Day 2006 is right around the corner; are you ready for November 7th? WomenMatter encourages you to inform yourself, pick a party, and make a $5 donation to the candidates that care about your issues.

You can use WomenMatter.com to understand the facts and tradeoffs of every life issue. Try reading our updates and listening to our radio shows so that you can analyze the candidates’ platforms and ask critical questions.

Don’t think your voice will be heard? Think again. If each and every woman you know sends $5 to a candidate, and all the women she knows do the same, we’d be as strong as a tidal wave.

What about the big money? Together, we are big money!

Many American women feel like they can’t make a difference because corporations and private interest groups donate millions to campaigns. But let’s take a look at how many women it would take to match their donations.

So far, in the 2006 elections, companies have donated about $750 million to both Democratic and Republican campaigns. There’s about 107 million women of voting age in America; if every one of them sent $5 to a candidate, we’d be a serious rival of big business at about $537 million.

And that number dwarfs the donations made by wealthy individuals. For the 2006 elections, the top contribution so far is $287,000 from Robin and Cheri Arkley in Eureka, California. And women together would have more sway than any one organization. The top donor is the National Organization of Realtors, which has contributed to both sides of the aisle a total of $2.4 million in 2006.

If all of the women in your community contributed just $5 to local races, it would make an impact. For example, one of the most expensive congressional races in the country is in Massachusetts, District 5. The candidate with the most money, Marty Meehan (D), has raised about $4.9 million. If all of the women in that district contributed $5 to the race of their choice, their total contributions would amount to an estimated $1.2 million. Not bad, eh? And that’s just with $5! What about a $10 or $20 donation?

Where does the money go?

Typically, donations to candidates go towards commercials, flyers, direct mailings, and other sorts of advertising meant to encourage votes. Parties spend anywhere from $25-$44 to get out one vote!

And usually, these marketing tools aren’t very informative, but full of buzz words, catch phrases, and sometimes dirt on the other candidates.

WomenMatter encourages women to look beyond the advertising and to research the issues. Of course, you can use WM for this! Then talk to your friends about the facts and tradeoffs of the policies that interest you. And you can blog here at WomenMatter.

Our research shows that women want systems that work. And the more we learn about our existing systems, the more power we have to change and improve them.

Learn more

Wanna know the difference between hard money and soft money? Click here.

Worried about the voting machines in your district? Click here.

And learn more about what’s going on in the nine life issues -- Women’s Rights; Education; Jobs, Taxes, and Benefits; Health Care; Environment; Security; Voting Rights; Campaign Financing; and Fair Courts.

What do you think?

Do women in your area contribute to local or national campaigns? Do you? Do you talk about the issues with your friends? If women became a national political force, how do you think this country would change?

Your input matters

Your representatives in Congress DO care what you think. Especially now -- 2006 is an election year and many representatives will be looking to reconnect with their constituents. Let your congressmen and women know what you think! Give your senators a piece of your mind! To get to your reps, click here.

To explore our archive of past Voting Rights Life Issue updates, click here.

About WomenMatter

WomenMatter is a place to discuss life issues with other women. We don’t want to wedge women apart, but rather bring them together to dialogue. To participate in our blog, click here.

WomenMatter is the place where we can take one issue at a time, match what we do about it every day of our lives to the facts of the bigger system that we all live in and recognize that every idea for making it better has tradeoffs.

WomenMatter is dedicated to empowering women to participate in the political process. To do this we have invested in the most in-depth NONPARTISAN information, because we trust each woman to make up her own mind.

• We track nine issues every week and update this website several times a week.
• We launch after school GirlsMatter Clubs in middle and high schools to grow the next generation of politically aware women through a full curriculum and startup kit on girlsmatter.com.
• We do continuous research to make sure that we are meeting the needs of women across the country of all ages, races, incomes, preferences, and religions.
• We provide partnerships with nonpartisan organizations that provide services to women and advocate for them.