Children of the Campaign

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Salt Lake City Mayor, Rocky Anderson, wrote an editorial yesterday expressing concern that one of the candidates running to replace him wouldn’t be able to be both a good mayor and mother.   Jenny Wilson, Anderson wrote, “would either not be able to spend much time with her children, ages 2 and 5, or put in the time necessary to fulfill the duties of mayor.”

As disagreeable as I often find Anderson, he makes a legitimate point that few people, conservative (disappointingly) or liberal, seem to care about.   The New York Times had a very interesting article a few weeks ago on young children of the current presidential candidates.  And it’s not just John Edwards.

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.  

I was surprised how many 2008 candidates had small children, especially Dodd (age 63, with two girls, six and two), Brownback (50, with two nine year olds) , and Thompson (65, with a four year old and nine month old!).  (Of course, this raises another issue of some of these men who start new families so late in their lives).

One gets understandably squeamish when holding politician’s families up to scrutiny.  It’s a hopeless paradox where most want to respect the private lives of politicians and their families, but we can’t help but take a hard look at how their familes have fared.  Politicians know that and deftly flaunt their families as best as they can without exposing them to serious scrutiny.  The difference is that while Mitt Romney’s work as a father is mostly done with five grown sons.  John Edwards has run for president twice during his son’s seven years of life.

I care about family values and when they are bandied about by politicians, its inescapable that I look to their own families to get some measure of their sincerity.   I’m not a one issue voter but it hurts a candidate’s credibility if their words are out if step with their lives.  And it makes me question their judgment that they consider themselves so important that only they can lead the country right now, while leaving their most important time with their children mostly to others. 

Children can’t elect new parents, and candidates can wait a few years for the next election.  Why the rush?