URGENT, URGENT: DO THIS NOW - it's important and it only takes 5 minutes - 1/28/08

Mon Jan 28 12:44:11 EST 2008

I just got off a conference call and our Marriage Education questions on
politico.com have slipped.  We need them to be ranked in the top 20 to be
sure that they get asked in the Wed and Thurs night nationally televised
debates (THIS WEEK!).

Please vote TODAY on politico.com

VOTE ON BOTH THE REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRAT LISTS.  Get your
kids/friends/colleagues to vote.  It's free - 5 mins.

Please forward this TO ALL YOUR LISTS and ask anyone that cares about
Marriage Education to vote.

The Democrats are doing better on this than the Republicans - you'd think
with divorce and family breakdown being so directly linked to the ECONOMY,
that the Republicans would be on top of it.

See below for instructions.
- DIANE  
----------------------------

Dear Supporter of Marriage Education,

We have a unique opportunity to get the topic of Marriage Education
positioned within the public arena and within the current California
Presidential Campaign.

There is a website, http://www.politico.com, at which people can submit
questions to be read to the Presidential Candidates at this week's
nationally televised Presidential debates.

NOW is a key time to push our questions even higher up on the list, as over
the next few days the determination will be made about the questions that
will be asked of the Presidential candidates at two California debates
scheduled for the end of the month.

We figure that if we can get several of these questions into the top 10 or
20 questions on the website, this will force all the candidates to prepare
for addressing this issue--which is highly beneficial in itself--and having
a Marriage Education question actually be asked during the debates would
give unprecedented national exposure to the importance of Marriage
Education.  This would impact our work in countless positive ways all across
the country! 

Here's how:  Visit www.politico.com <http://www.politico.com/> and scroll
down to "Upcoming Presidential Debates" in the middle of the page.  Click on
this and you'll get to "Vote for Questions Now".  We want you to vote in
both lists--the list of questions for Republicans and the questions for
Democrats.  To do this, click first on "Republican" to see the list of
questions.  From there, click on the button above the list that says "Most
Popular", and look for the five Marriage questions (which you'll see
repeated a second time in the list, so vote for them wherever they appear!)
After you have voted there, go back and enter the list of questions for
Democrats and vote for our Marriage Education questions in that list.  Here
are the Marriage Education questions to look for:

1)  It has been estimated that divorce in America today costs state and
Federal governments more than $100 billion annually in an array of social
services needed as a result of marital breakdown.  If you are elected
President, what steps will you take to invest this money in preventive
approaches for helping couples build healthy marriages and families?

2)  Since marital success is correlated with many measures of social
stability--such as better mental and physical health, higher productivity in
the workplace, lower crime and less violent crime--and since Marriage
Education skills are known to correlate with marital success, what
innovative measures would you propose as President to make these
relationship skills part of the birthright of every American?

3)  In an attempt to address the decades-long breakdown of families and
provide solutions to strengthen marriage and family relationships in our
nation's poorest and most desperate communities, Presidents Clinton and Bush
have supported back-to-back initiatives (Responsible Fatherhood Initiative
and Healthy Marriage Initiative).  As President, how will you continue
and/or expand upon these programs that break the cycle of poverty by
strengthening marriages and families in impoverished communities?

4)  Both parties speak about the importance of family values.  Yet, this
often fails to result in action that benefits children and families.  Since
we know the primary reason families break apart is that the relationship
between the parents breaks apart, and we know that Marriage Education and
Relationship Skills training helps couples build strong relationships, what
will you do to increase access to these programs?

5)  Data show that parents' marital stability is correlated with a variety
of positive outcomes for their children--including higher academic
achievement, lower teen pregnancy rates, lower rates of delinquency, drug
and alcohol abuse, and better overall health.  We also know that Marriage
Education fosters marital stability.  As President of the country, what
initiatives would you propose to make Marriage Education readily available?

As I used to type in my 9th grade typing class, now is the time for all good
men (and women) to come to the aid of their party!  And, for those of us who
see the big picture about Marriage Education, I believe there has never been
such an important time to come to the aid of both parties!  Please join now
to raise visibility about the important work we do to help strengthen
couples and families!

Thanks so much!

Patty Howell

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