We told you about Emma Axelrod, Elena Tsemberis and Sammi Siegel back in early June here. They created a Change.org petition, which they called “It’s Time for a Woman Moderator: Equality in the 2012 Presidential Debates!” The girls are heading to Washington D.C. tomorrow to deliver 130,000 signatures from their petition, which is calling upon the Commission on Presidential Debates to appoint a woman to moderate at least one of three debates in 2012 between President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney. (The last time a woman moderated a presidential debate was 1992.)
The petition will be given directly to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Republican National Committee (RNC), urging both President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney to support their call.
Ultraviolet, an organization dedicated to expanding women’s rights and combating sexism, also circulated a petition in support of Emma, Sammi and Elena. Ultraviolet’s campaign has more than 80,000 signatures, which will be added to Tuesday’s petition delivery at the Commission’s offices. Combined, the total number of petitions will exceed 200,000.
“For two decades to pass without a woman moderating a presidential debate is shameful. Both the Commission on Presidential Debates and the two presidential candidates should recognize this historic opportunity and make sure that women are given a voice during the 2012 debates,” said Emma.
“Visibility equals equality in many ways, and by supporting the call for a woman moderator, both presidential campaigns and the Commission can send a strong message that they value the input and wisdom of women,” added Elena.
“This is the perfect moment for us to take our message to the Commission on Presidential Debates and the two campaigns,” said Sammi. “With the Commission set to announce moderators next month, they’ll be hearing loud and clear from more than 130,000 Americans that two decades without a woman moderator is too long and needs to be changed.”
Want to join the others who think that these young ladies are right on? Read and sign the full text of the petition.
Since there HAS been a woman moderator before, basically this petition is something similar to affirmative action?
Women can vote, they can be CEOs and they can run for president! Why are you petitioning to take someone else’s job? Why not (when a job position is available) have a woman APPLY for the job instead of send a bunch of kids to the Washington, DC to listen to this? Im willing to bet that a few thousand of those signatures think that there has never been a woman moderator before.
There was a television show where people asked passers by to sign a petition to “end women suffrage” (the right for women to vote!) and people signed it because they probably thought suffrage meant suffering.
Is there even a woman that wants to be a moderator?
This is nothing more than coming up with an interesting C.V. item for your college application. I’ve seen this many times and believe it or not it actually works, the “Elite” schools eat this kind of stuff up.