Who Kirsten is fighting for
Kirsten’s breakout debate performance centered the issues on women and families
Kirsten has dedicated her career in public service to fighting for women and families. In her standout performance at the second Democratic debate, she proved that she’ll continue that dedication as president.
Throughout the debate, Kirsten took complex issues and centered them on the people they affect, many of them women. These are some of those stories.
Fran Parr and frontline communities
In April, Kirsten met with Fran Parr on a tour through rural Iowa. Fran and her family are one of many Iowa families whose homes have been severely damaged due to widespread flooding along the Missouri River. When climate change came up at the debate, Kirsten didn’t only share her policy plans for addressing it — she shared Fran’s story as a very real example of how the climate crisis is hurting American families right now.
Kirsten’s Climate Change Plan would be a game-changer for families like Fran’s for two reasons. First, the plan forces polluters to pay an excise tax on fossil fuel production to fund projects that will help slow the effects of climate change. Second, the plan creates a Rural Resiliency Fund to help rural communities make their infrastructure more resilient to the effects of climate change, invest in disaster preparedness, and recover from natural disasters. Fran’s story is part of what inspired Kirsten to make supporting frontline communities a core tenet of her plan.
Women and children seeking asylum
When Kirsten was asked to weigh in on whether or not she would decriminalize border crossings, she was quick to remind both the audience and the candidates on stage that we are talking about vulnerable and desperate people, not criminals.
“When I was at the Texas border, I visited with women who had fled violence. … A woman from El Salvador owned a small business. Gangs came to her and said, ‘if you don’t give us all your money, we’re going to kill your family.’ That’s why she fled.” — Kirsten
Kirsten told the moderators that she believes illegal border crossings should be treated as civil offenses. Keeping laws on the books that treat crossings as a criminal offense is what allowed President Trump to separate children from their families and further dehumanize the migrants fleeing violence and persecution. Kirsten wants to lift up families, not separate them.
Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner
In 2014, Eric Garner was choked to death by a police officer, and millions watched the video of his death. The officer who killed Garner has yet to be charged with any crime and continued to serve with the New York Police Department until only days after the debate.
Kirsten had the opportunity to sit down with Eric Garner’s mom, Gwen Carr, after her son’s death. Kirsten shared Gwen’s story on the debate stage to remind the audience that Eric’s loved ones are still seeking justice.
When asked if New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had adequately answered the question as to why the officer responsible for Eric Garner’s death was still in the NYPD, Kirsten minced no words: “No. He should be fired. He should be fired now.”
Working mothers
A vast majority of women work in America, and many of them need to work to keep food on the table. But because of the gender wage gap, families who depend on a mother’s income are being shortchanged. That, compounded with rising health care, child care, and prescription drug costs, has put many families in tough situations.
Kirsten used her platform on the debate stage to stand up for working mothers. She pushed former Vice President Joe Biden to explain why, as a senator, he voted against a child care tax credit that would have supported working moms and wrote an op-ed saying women entering the workforce would lead to “deterioration of family.” Biden refused to answer for his own words.
Her own experience as a mom — and so many others’
Kirsten knows firsthand how the issues discussed in this campaign affect families — perhaps none more personally than health care.
When he was a toddler, Kirsten’s son Theo had a severe allergic reaction. His hands and face began to swell and Kirsten was terrified that he might go into anaphylactic shock. Kirsten shared this story on the debate stage to point out how wrong it is that some families can’t get their children the care they need, simply because they can’t afford it. Kirsten acknowledged that she had a credit card, she had health insurance, and she didn’t have to worry about getting her son to the hospital or paying for an EpiPen. But for far too many families, that’s just not the case.
Kirsten believes health care is a human right — not a privilege — and she has laid out plans to ensure that’s the case for all American families. Kirsten has campaigned on Medicare for All since 2005 and wrote the transition plan for Medicare for All. Last month, she released plans to reduce drug prices, hold Big Pharma accountable for price-gouging, and make medication more widely available to families who need it. She even outlined plans to raise the quality of maternal care in her Family Bill of Rights to combat the rising maternal mortality rate in America that disproportionately affects women of color.
Throughout her time in public service, Kirsten has lifted up everyday Americans’ stories to help enact progressive change — whether to shape the bills she’s passed through Congress or to inform her policy plans. What makes stories powerful is their ability to win hearts and change minds. That’s the kind of power Kirsten will use to unify our country and take back the White House next November.
