Little Edwardses, Dodds, Brownbacks, Obamas -- and Thompsons -- on the campaign trail with Daddy

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: In 2008 Race, Little Ones Go on the Trail With Daddy
By JODI KANTOR
Published: August 26, 2007

....This year, John and Jack Edwards are far from the only parent and child negotiating the awkward intersection of family and campaign life. No fewer than five presidential contenders — Mr. Edwards, Senators Christopher J. Dodd, Sam Brownback and Barack Obama, and the almost-candidate Fred D. Thompson — have children under 10, a circumstance historians say has no recent precedent.

It is a case of campaign demographics colliding with larger ones: some contenders are running for president at relatively young ages, while others — like many voters — are having children later in life.

That leaves politicians agonizing over how often to leave their children, who should care for them and how much to shield them from the spotlight. Each candidate calls family a top priority, but that can mean different things.

Mr. Edwards and Mr. Obama represent poles of the debate — Mr. Edwards has upended his children’s lives for the campaign while Mr. Obama is determined to keep his daughters rooted at home with their routines intact — while the others fall somewhere in between.

Though the candidates are upbeat and say their families are doing fine on the trail, they or their spouses sometimes hint of concerns about raising their children in the harsh environment of a presidential race. Michelle Obama, for example, told a crowd in Council Bluffs, Iowa, this month that when she and her husband considered his candidacy, they knew that “nothing would have been more disruptive than running for president of the United States.”...

***

All of the candidates use their children to charm voters. The children are the tiny Ed McMahons of the race, warming up the audience before the main pitch....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/us/politics/26kids.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Is Brownback Traveling With His Talking Fetuses (Feti?)

They'd be a great opening act...

[rurallib]

3. I believe he has a deepfreeze with embryos on his bus.

[rurallib]

2. Fred has a kid under 10? That answers a question I had.

BTW - did they note that Mittens kids are helping daddy instead of fighting his war?

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Only the under-ten set in this article.

:)

[unc70]

5. A hit piece on the Edwardses; also confirms MO's hit on them

This is a totally offensive hit piece on the Edwardses -- upended, dragged, pleasure palace.

It then characterised the Edwardses and the Obamas as opposite ends of the spectrum and used Michelle Obama's stump speech talking points (uncredited) to show that the Obamas are doing it the right way. I posted a couple of times that it appeared Michelle Obama's comments and speech were aimed at the Edwardses, not the Clintons, and even included two uses of "house" (triggers?) immediately before she gives her example of sharing your values by tucking her kids in to their own beds.

Remember that Jodi Kantor just wrote the profile on Chelsea Clinton and how she was kept out of most of the campaigning.

So Jodi's candidate scorecard on parenting:

Clinton Wonderful (Jodi also thinks HRC appeared cool at the fair.)

Obama Good

Edwards Bordering on abuse (should have left them at the mansion)

Dodd Embarassing

And her article gets to reinforce the Obama talking points.

Then remind everyone that Edwards lives in a palace and will do anything to get elected, even upend the lives of this children and drag them to Iowa to warm up the crowds for him.

Something looks coordinated here.