Last night I attended a lecture put on by the Jewish United Fund of Chicago that focused primarily on next week’s important presidential election. After giving a brief overview of both McCain and Obama’s political stances, the speaker turned her attention to Hillary Clinton, who she said, paved the way for one of the most exciting election seasons in recent memory.

I second that motion.

The speaker, Julia Strauss of Northwestern, pointed out two key components of Hillary’s run for president that changed the campaign, and perhaps politics for years to come.

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Fact: My high school fashion sense made Ugly Betty look good.

Yes, that’s me circa 9th-10th grade. I was mugging with my BFF, thus the open mouth. I feel that it took me until my 30s to really find a comfortable style for myself. It’s a bit preppy, a bit vintage, and a bit whatever suits my fancy. Despite being such a fashion dork I’m enthralled by the fashion throw down that is occurring on the campaign trail. First we had Michelle Obama cause an uproar when she appeared on “The View” in a White/Black dress. I along with the rest of America went to their website and despite the fact that I had been in one of their stores just months earlier, I fell in love with their style. Recently she was spotted on the campaign trail in an H&M dress. For a woman who was tagged as the next Jackie Kennedy, she certainly is thrifty!

Next fashion uproar was about Cindy McCain’s dress at the convention. For a party that kept claiming to be fighting for the middle class, that price tag for one night’s outfit was quickly picked up by the liberal end of the political spectrum.

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The “Greatest Show on Earth” is heading to my town and instead of packing up the kid and heading to the big top, I’m running from the tent like an animal that’s been let out of its cage. That’s my problem with the circus - while I know my son would adore the leaping! the flying! the elephants! I can’t get past images of bullhooks, animals in cages aboard trains for hours being shuttled from city to city.

I hate to deprive my children of things because of my own ethical quandries, but I can’t seem to overcome my ill feelings towards a seemingly benign source of entertainment enough to purchase the tickets. What’s a mom to do? Dig for more information, of course.

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Sarah Palin did not invent motherhood politics. She stands on the shoulders of many women before her in this regard. In fact I’m writing the entry for the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Motherhood on suffrage and motherhood as I find much of inspiration for my feminist motherhood from Elizabeth Cady Stanton (pictured here_, whom I named my daughter after. So while we have Stanton, Rodham Clinton, Pelosi, and countless other moms who have entered the rough & tumble world of politics, is it proper for moms to use motherhood as their primary focus of their politics?

MomsRising is only one of the latest movements to use motherhood as a reason for women to get involved in politics.

Our members are bringing important motherhood and family issues to the forefront of the country’s awareness. We are working to create both cultural and legislative change. It is time to break the logjam that has been holding back family-friendly legislation for decades and to advance workplace policies that will support families.

Bottom line? Moms need to be active in politics because of our families. I often fall back on this logic when talking to moms who claim not to be political. Anyone who has children of school age is political. We have to evaluate our local school, decide if that’s what we want, and if we have the ability, chose to go in another direction. I’ve rarely met moms who say they didn’t even look at the public school before deciding on private or home-schooling. They chose not to put their kids in public school because of the system and frankly, that’s one of the most radical and political actions I can even imagine.

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Leading up to a “big, big celebration” on October 30, Working Mother magazine recently published their list of 100 Best Companies for working mothers. The survey methodology seems rather straightforward - the magazine looked at qualities in companies such as workforce, compensation, child care, flexibility programs, leave policies and more. It also surveys the usage, availability and tracking of programs, as well as the accountability of managers who oversee them.

I’m glad to see that the magazine is taking into account the fact that peoples’ managers play a key role in shaping the environment in which mothers work. I’ve been saying for a long time, flexibility in work schedules isn’t possible without good managers.

But overall, my biggest issue with surveys like these is that they don’t dig deep enough into a workplace’s culture. While I’m glad to know that Bristol Myers Squibb “requires part-time employees to work only 14 hours per week to qualify for benefits, while the Moffitt Cancer Center requires only 10 hours,” I would rather know that BMS would let me leave at 3 p.m. to pick up my son from school if I was in a bind. Or that my boss wouldn’t bat an eyelash if I had to run out at lunch time for a much-needed teeth cleaning.

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The high points of my childhood are now the bane of my existence – School holidays.

As a mom who works outside the home full-time, a day off is a fate worse than hell some days and I’m a lucky one. I work at a university in an office where I can bring the kid in and plop her down with crayons and homework. My partner’s office isn’t as fit for having a kindergartner hanging out for the day – It’s just too busy. When I do stop to grumble, like right now, I force myself to think about the moms and dads who work in factories, retail, restaurants, and other places that aren’t appropriate for kids.

Add to this my questioning of celebrating a day like Columbus Day where kids still learn about Christopher Columbus and the world he discovered. Thus the idea that the kids are off in celebration of a myth (Chris didn’t make it to North America) more than the history. I am moving towards the idea that we should keep kids in school for Columbus and MLK Jr. Day so that an entire day can be devoted to what they mean to us today and what their legacy really is.

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A shocking, to some, study [pdf] came out last month in the Journal of Applied Psychology concluding that men who hold sexist ideals make more money than anyone else. So what does this mean to us working girls and the good guys out there?

For one it says that the workforce is still rewarding men for outdated attitudes. It is an indicator that the outdated model our workforce operates under rewards those who play the game according to the rules. This report also proves that wage gaps are not just an outcome for women’s poor decisions. You know, taking time off to care for children or other such frivolous things that signal to supervisors that you aren’t serious about your job. It puts a nail in the coffin of meritocracy. Yes, we should all continue to work our hardest, but never again should we allow someone (paging Senator McCain) tell us that hard work and being the best is the way that people rise to the top.

But most importantly this report tells us that legislation like the Equal Pay Act will only take us so far in the quest for equality and fairness.

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A new poll out by Cookie Magazine/ AOL Health reveals some surprising news about today’s dads: they aren’t getting enough sex, so they’re turning to other women and the internet for some cheap thrills. The startling stat for me was that 32 percent of dads in this poll admitted to having an affair. Additionally, 60 percent of dads turn to the internet for fun.

Moreover, 70 percent of those polled said they imagine having sex with Angelina Jolie, Jessica Alba and Beyonce and 79 percent want more action in the bedroom. While baffled by the stat that a third of those surveyed have strayed from their wives at some point since having children, I’m less shocked that dads fantasize about celebrities or want more play between the sheets.

I’m not naming names or anything, but I know of a certain someone who crashes at 9:30 after running around a toddler all day not to mention that she’s four months pregnant so the last thing she feels like doing is engaging in a sort of physical activity that was more fun on her honeymoon. I’m just saying.

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