Greg Speed in HuffPost: On Father’s Day, Remember The Power Of Our Daughters

Check out AV President Greg Speed’s Huffington Post blog about the impact of women’s issues on whole families – not just women – and the role women’s issues will play in the 2014 election.

Being a father has taught me the enormous importance of our daughters in making our progressive goals for women a reality. Each day I am with my daughter, I have a growing understanding and appreciation of a point my allies in the women’s movement emphasize all the time: women’s issues are family issues, too, and are very much in the interest of men — however slow many of us have been to realize it.

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The fight to advance the women’s economic agenda is happening in real time and could have a huge impact on the 2014 election. According to a recent analysis by the Voter Participation Center, American Women and other organizations and foundations: 25 states are currently debating bills to address gender wage discrimination; nearly two-dozen states and cities are considering paid family and sick leave measures; and 40 states will consider raising the minimum wage through either legislation or on the ballot in November.

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Women are a powerful part of the electorate. The lagging turnout expected among unmarried women, who contributed enormously to progressives’ margin of victory in 2008 and 2012, could have a major negative impact in November. Progressives’ success or failure will largely be determined by whether unmarried women turn out in numbers roughly equal to their male counterparts.

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All of this underscores the essential work of America Votes’ partner organizations like EMILY’s List, Planned Parenthood, NARAL and Women’s Voices Women Vote. These groups are focused on connecting with women voters about what’s at stake for them and families, and how their vote will have an impact on advancing the women’s agenda. And that is work both women and men should support.

To read the full post, check out Greg’s blog on The Huffington Post. 

Greg Speed in HuffPost: No, It’s Not Too Soon To Think About Redistricting

In his latest post, “No, It’s Not Too Soon To Think About Redistricting,” America Votes President Greg Speed argues that post-2010 partisan gerrymandering in states controlled by extreme conservative governors and legislatures has proven to be one of the single largest roadblocks for the progressive movement today. The decade-long effects of redistricting cannot be ignored, and progressives must make it a priority in our long-term strategy.

“The importance of who controls redistricting still cannot be overstated. We need to be ready to play a long game focused on incremental gains, and six years out from the next census is certainly not too early to prepare for it.”

We can’t wait until the 2020 to start thinking about how electoral outcomes will affect our ability to advance the progressive issues we care about most like protecting working families, women’s health choices, our enviornment and voter access to the ballot. We must begin our work in 2014 to have an impact in 2020 and beyond.

“What happens over several election cycles leading up to the decennial census typically shapes the redistricting process…Every decade presents just five opportunities to elect state legislative majorities, and this November will be our second out of five plays to inch closer to the post-2020 end zone.”

To read the full post, check out The Huffington Post.