Mattie is my three year old daughter.  She is sitting on my lap watching me write posts and finding words she can read.  She keeps begging, “Mom, can I type Mattie?  Can I type my name?”  I keep telling her, “No, I’m typing about Mitt Romney.”

She knows that I want Mitt Romney to be president.  She has learned to listen for his name on the TV and radio.  When I am hidden behind my laptop she often begs to watch “a Mitt Romney movie” (i.e. one of his online ads.)

But Mattie has learned much more than politics from me.  She has learned her colors, to read and to spell.  Right now she wants to spell “dog” and “Rosy.”  Rosy is her dog that we rescued from the local animal shelter last spring.  She also wants to type “dad.”  She loves to type to her dad on Yahoo Instant Messager in the morning.  They send each other funny faces back and forth.  Now she asks to type “mom.”  She likes that Mom and Mattie both start with an “M.”

You see, Mattie has also learned about family and love and the importance of encouraging and lifting up other people.  Sometimes I don’t know if she has learned this from me or if she simply came to me knowing this in her tender and innocent little soul.  But I don’t want her to unlearn it.

I don’t want her to learn fear or cynicism.  That is why this presidential race is important to me.  Because the man (or, heaven forbid, woman) elected can have a dramatic impact on the nation that I raise my daughter in.  In Laura Ingraham’s book “Power to the People” the very first front she stakes out for us to take back our power is in the family.  As women, we have a beautiful and vital role to play in the family.  This role should not be cheapened or disparaged by members of government.

 That is why I teach the little woman in my home to support Mitt Romney.