Joan Blades

“The purpose of The Motherhood Manifesto is mothers really need to be given the ability to parent.”

“I find it odd that there's such strong objection to what is a clear way to assure that our elections are reliable and we can do a recount if there are any questions.”

“Common sense as well as common values all lead us. Our future depends upon it and our present is going to be vastly better when we get back to these basics.”

“What we do is not going to be successful unless our members care about it.”

“When you become active in the system and communicate to your representatives, and they don't vote in accordance with your values, your responsibility is to support candidates who will.”

“What is the biggest public forum in the United States? We were told it's the Super Bowl. The ad shows kids working at blue-collar jobs, and the final statement is just written text: Who's going to pay for the trillion dollar deficit?”

“Moveon is not a one-way broadcast media. The Internet, when used best, is a two-way media. We have a forum in which people can post comments and those comments can be rated. We get a sense of what people feel most passionately about.”

“Most jobs today are still structured the same way they were 50 years ago, when most families had someone who could stay at home.”

“I have a real sense of optimism that we are revolutionizing the way we do politics in this country.”

“When we compile a petition, we often have members go to their representative's or Senator's offices and deliver it in person. This way they can experience a real connection with the staff.”

“It is time for us to focus on the issues that bring us together as a nation. Supporting parents' capacity to raise their children with the love and resources they need is simply the right thing to do.”

“Most families need both parents to work. Moms need to be able to work and earn fair pay and have the flexibility in their jobs to also be primary caretakers.”

“I have referred to myself as an accidental activist on more than one occasion.”

“Touch screen voting is a fine thing so long as they have a voter-verified paper trail.”

“We are mortgaging our future.”

“Even though mother's issues are not front page news, they touch us all personally, some more than others, and I believe passionately in the power of grassroots engagement.”

“I'm a mediator by training and inclination.”

“We aim to express the passion of our members in something actionable that we can all in fact do.”

“A book reaches a different crowd of people. There are 50 different stories of very different individuals participating in their communities either locally or nationally in meaningful ways.”

“We've got 50 percent voter turnout for presidential elections. That's appalling. We can do so much better.”