As women increasingly participate in the voting process, it’s becoming more common that the first lady or candidate’s spouse will galvanize the presidential campaign with more emphasis on women’s interests. In the past few days we have seen first lady Michelle Obama and Ann Romney make news headlines across national publications and create political discourse that have energized many Americans to re-engage in political discussion on a wide range of important social issues; now women are playing major roles in the election and shaping campaign strategies on both Democratic and Republican sides.

During the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention speeches, both ladies presented their best cases to engage female voters, who will likely determine the next president. They introduced their husbands to the American people with more personalized speeches, which reflect family life, love and motherhood. Throughout their speeches, both Ann Romney and Michelle Obama shared struggles they overcame, revealing how much they loved their husbands, though they did not reveal specific strategies how they will move this country forward.

Although Ann Romney and Michelle Obama come from very different backgrounds and addressed politically isolated audiences, both of them share something in common: They deeply understand the importance of the female vote in this election and urged women to go out to the polls and vote. “It’s the moms of this nation; single, married, widowed, who really hold the country together,” Romney said in her keynote speech. She praised her husband as a successful businessman who knew how to fix America’s economic problems and promised that Mitt Romney “will not fail.” While Ann Romney focused more on her husband’s success in the private sector, the first lady centered her speech on the president’s work in the last four years — both in their own ways becoming focal points that have since struck chords with female voters across the nation.