Before it had even begun (and well after it was over), hockey moms, soccer moms, and security moms were online, debating the debate. Their raw comments provide a fascinating first-person, real-time reaction—without those annoying red and blue dial lines.
Readying herself at 5:23 p.m., MoreMomsForMcCain offered up this little prayer:
Lord,
Watch over John McCain tonight. Give him the words You would have him say. Help him be strong. Help him speak truth. Help him touch the hearts of the American people. Send your angels to protect him. Help America return to You, Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
I knew McCain would want to get up and wander around. When I first saw the table and chairs, I thought, uh oh, he’s going to have to SIT!
Over at BlogHer, another mother voiced a more earthly wish:
I want them both to look me in the eye and tell me they are real. I want them both to say to my face, “yes, you don't have to be cynical and assume I lie...I really am who I am asking you to believe in.”
And now I have to go feed my unicorn before we fly over the rainbow.
In the Moms & Politics forum at iVillage, women who can smell an impending tantrum a mile away wrestled over whose misbehavior was worse.
Juliana3: I totally saw McCain’s attempt to stay calm but he still looked flustered and irritated.
Hilllaryt1234: I thought that Obama looked ruffled. McCain finally put him in his place. To me Obama just talks in circles. He never makes sense to me.
lj_jacieb: I think McCain seemed feisty (if not slipping into grouchy)…
Litlpixy: Obama was smirky. I knew McCain would want to get up and wander around. When I first saw the table and chairs, I thought uhoh, he’s going to have to SIT!
On MisfitMoms, Foster_Mama and r3sunz were turned off when McCain started laying into Obama:
Foster_Mama: McCain is still looking like an angry and condescending jerk. At least he’s not calling Obama “that one” this time.
r3sunz: Hey lets celebrate the lack of “my friends” LOL
Foster_Mama: I agree he sounds like my 6 y.o. when it comes to these debates.
Denise chimed in: Anyone have Joe the Plumber’s card?
The abortion rights issue got the moms in a state over at MotherTalkers. A different FosterMama wrote:
I’m glad to see Obama is not backing down from his Roe V Wade stance. I hate wishy washy politicians on such strong topics. Whether I would ever have an abortion or not I am happy to hear his stance without flinching on it.
This prompted Ginabad to share her own story:
Made this decision this summer…I was disgusted when McCain talked about prochoice movement “moving the line.” I'm actually high risk and with 2 special needs kids, my unplanned pregnancy was a risk. IT WAS MY CHOICE because ya know, my kids need me.
Tessajp commiserated:
I’m so sorry you had to make this choice, but you have an excellent point. This is just another example of Republicans not caring once the child is actually BORN. Having a mother around isn’t as important, apparently…What happens if both my kids, 37 and 40 years younger than me, need assistance when they grow up? They’ll have to fend for themselves with McCain’s legacy, you betcha.
These mostly Democratic moms agreed that it’s easy for McCain to be pro-life without being pro-the-rest-of-its-life. Mamacita called him out on this:
He lied in his response, something like, “Don’t worry poor young mother, we’ll help you with everything.” b*llshit.
A message-board poster named Shenanigans rounded out the lively discussion by pointing out how narrow McCain’s statement on abortion rights was:
His “young women” comment misses the fact that over half of women who get abortions already have children, and a substantial percentage report that they have “completed their childbearing.” Older women need and use choice too.
Over at Momocrats, Lawyer Mama wondered whether McCain’s repeated autism references were slipups:
Has Senator McCain simply forgotten that Calculus Algebra Trig has Down Syndrome? it certainly appeared so. Or maybe McCain just thinks that autism and Down Syndrome are the same thing. WTF?
And back at BlogHer, none other than Michelle Obama outed herself as an overworked, multitasking mom—just like us! She posted a lovely piece about the stress of trying to juggle our many jobs, responsibilities, and obligations:
No matter where we live—no matter our race, our socioeconomic background, or our political party—we women wear many hats. We’re daughters and sisters and moms. We’re professionals and students. We run errands and do laundry and shop for groceries. And to get it all done, we have another skill that we rely on. We’re jugglers.
I know that every other mommyblogger out there knows exactly what I’m talking about.
The work-life balance is something I think about a lot. I’ve struggled for so many years to get it right, and I still haven’t figured it out. Too often, when I’m with the kids, I feel like I’m shortchanging work. And when I’m at work… or these days, on the campaign trail… I feel like I’m shortchanging the kids. For many years, I felt a lot of guilt—and I still do, though it’s better now.
Prompting a commenter named Mom101 to respond:
It's so important that we know that juggling life, work and family is hard for everyone, and harder still for others… Wait…did you just refer to yourself as a mommyblogger? Kinda cool.
