The Use of Children in Political Ads

[jimmy olsen]

Inspired by this ad for the US senate staring the candidates 5 year old son.

http://hinckleyforsenate.com/tv-splash/

[Sheilbh]

Disapprove.  You use your kids as political props then they become fair game.  Same for political spouses.

[Valmy]

Don't they always use their family in Political Ads?  I mean just a family group shot to show the candidate is not gay and stuff.  But generally I think it is really crap to use your family this way.

[Valmy]

Disapprove.  You use your kids as political props then they become fair game.  Same for political spouses.

Yeah I remember a young Chelsea Clinton being attacked for being ugly by the entire country in 1992.  That had to suck.

[derspiess]

Disapprove.

FWIW Obama has made heavy use of his girls as props at certain times, interjecting their names into speeches that really have nothing to do with them.

[HVC]

Yeah I remember a young Chelsea Clinton being attacked for being ugly by the entire country in 1992.  That had to suck.

Ya, well at least they weren't lying. That's a rare thing for politically tinged topics.

[Valmy]

Disapprove.

FWIW Obama has made heavy use of his girls as props at certain times, interjecting their names into speeches that really have nothing to do with them.

I know Clinton did the same thing.  Leading to said Chelsea mocking.

[Sheilbh]

Disapprove.

FWIW Obama has made heavy use of his girls as props at certain times, interjecting their names into speeches that really have nothing to do with them.

I think it does depend on sincerity and topic.  I respect the Brown's and Blair's kept their children very private.  But I can understand and equally respect the way Cameron would talk about his son Ivan who had epilepsy and cerebral palsy and died a few years ago (Gordon Brown lost a child too, his daughter, Jennifer, died after only 10 day).  He's used it, and his experience of sitting in a hospital overnight to talk about his personal commitment to the NHS, or in his last speech about how he thinks the Paralympics have changed the perception of disabled people.

That seems different from using a child as a prop.

I should say that this seems far more prevalent in the US than the UK.  I think possibly because our press is far nastier and more brutal, they would very much treat any child in the public eye as a fair target.  If the politician keeps them private, except for the odd group photo, they have more protection against the press.

Edit:  Also I think it's fair for Clegg to say that even if people hate him now it's not on for people to have protests outside his family home shouting abuse at him, because he's a man with a young family.  If politicians don't make their family lives public then they should be entitled to keep it private.

[Neil]

Clegg should have known better.  That sort of knobbish behavior works in British politics, so why wouldn't people show up at his house and throw shit at his wife?  Stupidity, violence and rudeness are the virtues of the People, and the virtues that Labour has striven to encourage.

[Eddie Teach]

"absolutely appalling"

[CountDeMoney]

I see nothing wrong with using children in political ads.

[frunk]

All political ads should be produced and written by kids that are ten years old or younger, starring casts of fuzzy animals and robots to illustrate hot button topics.

[Habbaku]

I see nothing wrong with using children in political ads.

"They told me if I voted for Goldwater, he would get us into a war in Vietnam. Well, I voted for Goldwater and that's what happened."

[Martinus]

Everybody is someone's child. 

[The Brain]

Disapprove. Children have no concept of quality and customer focus.