This is it—the final push. With only one more day until the election, campaigns and candidates are making their final petitions to voters. Recently, a number of news articles, including stories in The New York Times and The Washington Post, noted that in these final days candidates have spent more time exhibiting themselves as parents and being accompanied by their children on the campaign trail. Political consultants call this type of campaign tactic “ending positive,” a removal from the months of attack ads to focus on more positive imagery, like families and children.
Throughout the election season, First Focus has been urging campaigns to make the needs of children a topic of the political debates taking place across the country. While we’re thrilled to finally see candidates embracing their roles as parents and care takers of the next generation, we’re disappointed that conversation around improving the lives of children did not occur sooner. The truth is, there are serious challenges facing our next generation and voters deserve to know where candidates stand on these critical issues.
In our nation today, one in five kids is born into poverty, nine million kids are living without health insurance, and 1.2 million students are dropping out of school each year. There are real solutions to each of these problems, but realizing them takes true leadership. We’ll soon choose the men and women who will decide how – or even whether – we respond to these issues. Will we have representatives in Congress who see kids only as a photo opportunity? Or will we have representatives who understand that supporting our children isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s one of the best investments we can make as a nation?
Tomorrow, the choice is up to you.
For more information on children and political campaigns:
- The New York Times, “Children as a Campaign Tool”
- The Washington Post, “Candidates Use Children to Make Final Pitch”
For your polling location and voter information: