Stephanie S. Cordle/Associated Press
Posted on 07/25/2004 6:18:45 AM PDT by Pharmboy
Stephanie S. Cordle/Associated Press
Jenna Bush, campaigning for her father last week, makes an unintended
splash.
WASHINGTON — Well, that was a fine how-do-you do. This was supposed to be the new Jenna Bush. Fresh out of college, ready to shed the "Jenna and Tonic'' image she earned as a partying undergraduate, she posed for Vogue in a couture gown and declared an interest in working with charter schools. It was all a prelude to becoming a public figure at 22 and heading out on the campaign trail for Dear Old Dad.
Then last week she stuck out her tongue at reporters and photographers. The pictures whizzed around the globe.
The first and perhaps only rule for children campaigning for their parents may be this: Do no harm. It is a rule that is almost impossible to violate, because merely by being on stage, most children transform their parent-candidates into softer human beings.
And in fact, Ms. Bush's poke of her tongue at the media may not have done her father any harm. She probably inspired cries of "You go, girl!'' from supporters who think the president should stick his tongue out at the media once in awhile anyway.
But her off-message gesture may also have reminded voters of her father's reputation as a frat-boy prankster, which may not be the image that his campaign wants to rekindle in a time of the war on terror.
Conan O'Brien on NBC's "Late Night" put it this way: "President Bush was so furious at Jenna's childish behavior that he called her a doodie head.''
But consider this. Perhaps the point of sending Ms. Bush out on the trail was not so much to suggest that their spirited days were over but to counter the all-out display of child power on the other side.
Senator John Kerry's two grown daughters have been campaigning with him for months and will address the Democratic National Convention in Boston on Thursday when he accepts the presidential nomination. Vanessa, 27, is a third-year medical student at Harvard. Alexandra, 30, is a filmmaker (who set tongues wagging at Cannes in May when she wore an off-the-shoulder black dress that, under the camera flashes, appeared to be see-through). They are often joined on the trail by two of the adult sons of his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry.
When the Kerry and Heinz pictures include the young children of Senator John Edwards, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, they round out what Doug Wead, a former aide to both Presidents Bush and author of "All The President's Children,'' calls "the Brady Bunch factor.''
He said that the merged family and the addition of young children created an appealing tableau to which a lot of Americans could relate.
"With this Brady Bunch arrangement, you have so much to identify with,'' he said. "You've got serious, you've got reclusive, the brunette, the blonde. There's a character in this vast narrative for each voter to identify with, and hopefully that draws you into the message.''
Children can also serve as primary sources, telling stories that make the candidates real to ordinary people. The Bush twins, Jenna and Barbara, held an online chat on Friday and assured their questioners that their father was a man of his word.
"If he says he is going to do something, he will do it,'' the twins wrote. "When we were kids, if dad said he was going to come to one of our soccer games, he would be there!"
Sometimes, children do become a lightning rod for criticism. Vice President Dick Cheney's two daughters both hold formal positions in his campaign. Liz, 37, just had her fourth child and is expected to become a presence on the trail. But Mary, 35, is a lesbian who works behind the scenes and has become a target of gay activists, who have tried to pressure her into opposing President Bush's proposed ban on same-sex marriage.
Yet another presidential child will be on the stage this year. In a coup for Democrats, Ronald Reagan Jr. is to speak at the Democratic convention on the topic of stem-cell research.
By speaking at the convention, Mr. Wead said, Mr. Reagan may overcome that albatross of all presidential children and establish his own identity, separate from that of his parents.
Of course, in the politicking, political children only solidify their identities with their parents because their association is the reason that voters take an interest in them in the first place.
In any event, Mr. Wead said it was unlikely that children could sway an election. But they can enhance or hinder a candidate's image.
"And in a close election,'' he said, ''everything counts.''
This is the reason I posted this article from the Week in (Liberal) Review section. Yeah--that dress appeared to be a see-through.
There are no ends they will not go to to smear Dubya. The writer couldn't even find it in her heart to admit that the Bush daughters were good looking. Yeccchh on the Times.
Jenna's gesture was cute and charming. Compare that to Kerry giving that vet the finger.
HEH HEH! A middle finger would do just fine too!
For a five year old.
As opposed to chelsea clinton, who looks like webster hubble with too much makeup on.
Jenna just expressed the same sentiment for the press that I have, only my tongue would not be what I would show them.
Kerry himself could have flipped the bird at the press corps and they would have spiked the story, or even run it as an example of his qualifications.
" In a coup for Democrats, Ronald Reagan Jr. is to speak...."
They keep referring to this as a coup. Nonsense. He is a liberal dim who did not vote for his dad. Zell Miller speaking at the Republican Convention is a coup.
"Mr. Reagan may overcome that albatross of all presidential children and establish his own identity, separate from that of his parents."
And that identity would be what? A mediocre ballet dancer, a failed radio DJ, an ignored presidential offspring? Go ahead Ronnie, give it your best shot because this is the very last time anyone is going to see you on TV. You ingrate *&^%$*.......
Maybe if you finally came out of the closet you could get some attention.
I LOVE IT,
"chelsea clinton, who looks like webster hubble with too much makeup on."
No, apparently, those dresses are really see-through only when you have a camera flash. It's a wonder of modern science.
Could it be that Webster is Chelsea's daddy?
Seeing the video, and reading of this last week, it was a funny, spontaneous moment for Jenna, and the press, who laughed about it.
Leave it to the Slimes to spin it differently.
Very much like they are spinning the Sandy Bergler story. Typical Slimes spin.
Pressed-ham-on-glass?
Yes, you can tell she's joking around. After reading a thread (the day it happened) where some freepers were chastising her, I pointed that out, and sure enough, the next morning I heard that reporters with her and she had been joking around and she playfully stuck out her tongue for a sec and then they all had a good laugh.
Needless to say this article is snide. And notice the implication that Jenna is just pretending to an interest in charter schools. And the headline? Speaks for itself.
Some people are just not nice. Jenna appears to be nice. This reporter (who I've seen before and can picture), does not.
EXACTLY!
What the writer didn't mention, and what has been mentioned in other reports, is that Jenna had been laughing and joking around with the press corps prior to getting into the car.
Makes a difference, wouldn't you think?
Not to mention...I think even the democrats agree that Dubya isn't his "daddy", as they so charmingly say it.
Wouldn't that mean the GWB has successfully established his own "identity"?
What clymers.
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