After years of taking our freedom of choice for granted, our democracy for granted, our free and fair elections for granted, it is hard to now live in this space where our country, and the ideals on which it was founded, are constantly under siege.

But, here we are again. Under siege.

We, the humble founders of Vote Like a Girl, are women, mothers of women, and we are also Virginians. Our beloved home state has a pretty important election in a few weeks and we feel compelled to weigh in.

We founded this company to bridge the divide, to elevate the conversation and to focus attention on real issues, rather than bumper stickers and divisive, partisan rhetoric. Why? Because when extreme voices are the ones that garner the attention it becomes more important than ever that the center holds.

We never intended to ‘pick a side,’ but right now one side (today’s Republican party) is broken, and it is taking the rest of us down with it.

Don’t let them Texas our Virginia.

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I don’t know about you guys, but I haven’t been this pissed off since the evil mind-controlling government took away my Constitutional right to get polio.

And pass it on to others.

And I’ll never forgive the government for taking away my Constitutional right to let my toddler run amok inside my car as I’m driving and go flying through the windshield if I’m in an accident. No one can take away my Constitutional right to endanger my own child; this is America.

Are you $!@&ing kidding me??

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Like other so-called “battleground states,” all eyes were on Wisconsin in the recent presidential election. Wisconsin women played a pivotal role in winning the state for Vice-President Biden and Senator Harris.

As a feminist writer, activist, and resident of the state best known for beer, cheese, and being predictably “purple” in its politics, I knew progressive organizers and volunteers like me were going to have to hustle to reclaim Wisconsin

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We are women, mothers, sisters, daughters and perhaps most importantly, communicators. We know how to listen, how to meet people where they are, and move forward toward a common goal. But when there is no longer a common baseline of truth, when we live in two completely different realities, when all the adults have left the building and rhetorical talking points replace honest conversation and serious debate, progress is not possible. Nothing will get better and most things will get worse.

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Maybe it was one too many episodes of The West Wing back in the day, but here at Vote Like a Girl, we believe that the government should work to solve problems. We tend to lean toward policy over talking points when it comes to backing political candidates, that’s why we get particularly excited about candidates like Carolyn Bourdeaux, running for Congress in GA’s 7th.

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With November 3rd quickly approaching, we are excited to continue our Change Candidates to Watch series. To learn more about any of our candidates (and find out how to take action or where to donate), visit their page on our Voter Guide 2020. This week we will be highlighting the candidate for Texas’s 14th district: Adrienne Bell.

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I’m no political strategist, foreign policy expert, constitutional scholar, or grand historian, but I went to college, I read the paper every morning, I’ve raised three children, run two businesses, and I just have to ask… seriously, how is this guy our President?!

During his campaign...He mocked a disabled reporter. He went after a war hero and a gold star family. He didn’t use dog whistles, he pulled out the bull horn. He fed division and hate, told his rally-goers to beat up protestors, and alienated much of the country on a daily basis. Dozens of women accused him of sexual assault, and then he was caught on tape admitting ...that he sexually assaults women. He asked Russia for Hillary's emails, they hacked the DNC and he got his crowds to chant “lock her up” and ‘build the wall.’

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With less than 40 days until the election, election coverage (from all sides of the political spectrum) is all over everyone’s social media, TV news and newspapers. A lot of what people are reading is accurate and valuable journalism. Some of it, however, is truly fake news that is being spread blindly. So how do we know if what we are reading is true? And how do we stop the spread of the fake stuff?

The non-profit Poynter Institute, a journalism and research organization, has launched its new program MediaWise, designed specifically to answer this question. Their mission is to teach people how to spot misinformation, “so they can make decisions based on facts, not fiction.”

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Who is Qasim Rashid?

He is running for congress in Virginia’s 1st district, against incumbent Rob Wittman. He is an immigrant, a father and husband, and a human rights lawyer who spent years defending sexual assault survivors. In his own words, he is running for congress because, “I benefited from the American dream. I am running for Congress to protect the American dream, to pass the dream onto our children, and to open the dream up to those from whom it has been withheld.”

We first heard about Qasim after he attended an anti-Muslim event in Warrenton, Virginia. The event was held a little over a year ago, when Qasim was running for State Senate. It was put together by a hate group, trying to criticize and stop American Muslims running for office. They never expected for Qasim to show up, or the many local citizens that came to support him…

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Who is Sara Gideon?

She is currently the speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, a position that she’s held since 2016. And on Tuesday, Gideon won her primary; she is now challenging Senator Susan Collins this November.

Part of what makes this race so interesting, and so important, is Senator Collins herself. Senator Collins is a fourth term republican senator from Maine who, until recently, had almost unparalleled favorability ratings for such a long-standing politician (and was often named one of the top three most popular senators in America).

So how did Senator Collins go from one of America’s most popular senators to one at high risk of losing her seat? The easiest answer is also almost too obvious: Donald Trump.

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As Black Lives Matter protests around the world continue to grow in size and scale, more and more it is clear who is taking charge. Younger generations have taken over the movement; they have mobilized hundreds of thousands of protesters and turned social media into a hotspot for information and activism.

This isn’t the first time, especially in the past few years, that youth have taken control. We saw it in 2018, as students in Parkland, Florida sparked a national conversation about gun control. And we’ve seen students around the world have staged countless walkouts protesting climate change. Younger generations have shown that they not only care, but they are willing to fight for the issues they believe in.

So why don’t young people vote?

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In the days after the devastating death of George Floyd, we were horrified, devastated and so very angry, again. We had to ask difficult questions; face the failings of our history, our government and our society; and search our own hearts and minds for truth, again.

Before George Floyd; it was Breonna Taylor, and before her Ahmaud Arbery; and before him, Freddie Gray, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin; and before them, centuries of countless senseless acts of violence against people simply because they were black.

Yes, unfortunately it is a familiar space for us to find ourselves in, again...but this time, it feels different.

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Most of you already know our story. We're two VA moms that were frustrated with the lack of civility and progress in our country’s current political reality...and had to do something.

We have six children between us, two jobs (actually, make that four), not a lot of time but a whole of LOT of passion and hope for better.

Vote Like a Girl was our solution. It was launched to inform, inspire and give VOICE to all the women and girls out there that felt the same way we did.

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As we mourn yet another lost opportunity to call a capable, qualified, powerful woman our President (a mere 100 years after women earned their right to participate in the electoral process), we asked one of our favorite activists and educators, Donna Cywinski to help us remember the hard-fought path here ...and offer up some feminist fuel to propel our fight FORWARD.

She nailed it. Grab a cup of tea, settle in and enjoy.

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The humanitarian crisis at our southern border broke our hearts and captivated our attention (for a time). But, as most of us have moved on with our lives, never really being able to grasp the hardship and desperation of so many... and, then suddenly a child’s voice reminds us that we must pay attention and do better.

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You know that feeling?

That nauseous feeling in your gut when you realize you’ve got two college tuition payments due, a mortgage payment and a healthcare premium calling your name....and, oh yeah, you still have to put food on the table.

We know it, we live it - and, we also know we’re the lucky ones.

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There has been a lot of talk in our politics lately about the ‘rural-urban divide.

…we wanted to look past wedge issues, labels, parties, and red vs blue and take a deep dive into rural America. Examine the unique challenges these communities face and what kinds of legislative priorities could offer progress. We asked one of our favorite rural activists – Carolyn Darrow, Virginia Rural Moms to weigh in on the rural reality and what voters should be pressing their representatives to talk about and work together to change.

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The best part of this passion project of ours is getting to meet strong women that are taking charge, adding their voice to our nation’s political conversation and bringing about change. 

One of the most impressive and inspirational groups of women we’ve met are the young warriors of Generation Ratify. We’re privileged to have one of their team’s founding members as our guest blogger today. 

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If conducted under the rules proposed by Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, the impeachment trial may well be the biggest injustice in American history. It would certainly go down as the worst assault our democracy has ever endured.

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Ok girls, it’s officially 2020 and we’ve got some work to do. No more wasting energy yelling at the TV or the car radio, we’re resolving to be heard and BE the change we want to see in the new year!

Let’s get to work on behalf of candidates and causes we care about and use all this awe-inspiring girl power for GOOD.

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