Eva Longoria: It’s not the Latino vote but the female vote
In 2008′s election, President Barack Obama easily won the female vote. This year women will be a pivotal group that may potentially decide who our next president will be.
With only three months remaining for the upcoming presidential election, and in hopes of reinforcing women’s votes in swing states such as Florida, the Obama campaign hosted two summits for women voters in the state.
Among the speakers of the summit in Miami were Congresswoman and Democratic National Committee chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and actress Eva Longoria.
Both reminded attendees what’s at stake for women for this upcoming election and what Obama has done for women so far.
Eva Longoria called this election one of the most important elections of her lifetime.
“I don’t like the direction it would turn if Mitt Romney was president” she said, referring to the country’s state if Obama was not re-elected.
The actress, who said she’s been engaged in civic activism since she was 17, went on to say that Romney does not represent what she holds dear as American values. And that the current president reflects the America she wants to see.
Longoria has spent most of her free time involved in the Obama campaign, making calls and traveling the country to speak to female voters.
According to Longoria, the issue that stands out the most among female voters, regardless of their race, is healthcare followed by the economy.
But it’s not the Latino vote, the actress urged Latino voters to think of themselves as Americans, “Latinos think of the same five top issues as any other Americans,” she said, citing the economy, healthcare and jobs as the top three.
Amid the accomplishments highlighted in the summit was economic progress, which includes the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration act that guarantees equal pay for equal work regardless of gender.
In healthcare, speakers focused on the fact that this president worked so hard on making sure that insurance companies are not allowed to charge women more than men for the same type of coverage.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman said she is very pleased with the improvements that the president has made in healthcare. She told the audience that at age 41 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had the opportunity to get treated in time thanks to early detection — preventative care service is something most women can get without co-pays or deductibles.
And in education, Obama has made college more affordable for students by doubling funding for Pell Grants.