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.''
I have no problem with what she did. W ought to be giving them the finger on a daily basis.
And I have no problem with what Dick Cheney said to that lowlife scumbag, Leahy. I wish he'd have punched him. If the damned GOPers would grow some backbones, and do what's right, we could overrun the liberal-demokkkRATs and get this country back from their stinking, socialist-commie agenda.
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.
How's getting Ron Prescott Reagan a coup? He's always been a liberal and he himself said he's never been a republican.
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.
The media needs to get kicked once in awhile. She's nicer than I am though. If I could get away with it without hurting my party, I'd 'salute' them.
Maybe she should have given the finger :). I would have.
Lighten up.
On another note, it is refreshing to see Republicans standing up for themselves. All little Jenna did was a girlish "Cheney."
Heck, I wouldn't pull a New York Times out of the trash to line my kitty litter boxes.
Yep, a President's daughter stuck her tongue out and intellectual wannabe's like Kravitz have to psychcoanalyze it up into an event affecting the human race and the possible negative or positive outcomes on the history of the United States.
And she is soooo dopey looking.
Just think, this bitch Seelye wrote this entire article to deliver that one line. She probably thinks she scored a major propaganda victory doing it, too. It's just one spear after another from the New York Times, the most dishonest newspaper in the United States.
Y'know, I wouldn't be so p*ssed off if they just kept this crap on the OP-ED pages, but they have it under NEWS. Gawd how I detest the phonies.
She was deliberately teasing the press. Reporters that were there said it was fun and they were thrilled with it.
Well, the fact that Pussy-boy Kerry had to stand 10 feet in front of the pitcher's mound and STILL couldn't throw the ball across the plate at the Red Sox's game tonight probably did more damage than Jenna.
Reporters that were there when she did it said that she was joking around with them.
They said it was a fun thing for all of them. One of them used the word "delightful".
I didn't see that. What happened?
Go check out the thread! There are photos and first-hand accounts!
Thanks, I'll do that!
Yep...read that this AM. At least SOMEONE on 43rd St. admits the obvious. It's a start...
Is this the only thing they could find to attack President Bush for? The RAT lapdog media continues to expose itself as the partisan house-organ it is. I'd say the author was the childish one.
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