Tuesday, September 2, 2008

President Tyler had 15 kids

A blogger sends a very good post on Sarah Palin sexism. In addition to a lot of insightful comments, he points out that President John Tyler had FIFTEEN kids.

This got me thinking. Historically, until Sarah Palin, hasn't it always been considered a political positive for a presidential candidate (or vice presidential candidate), to have a lot of kids? (as long as they are legitimate!)

Think of those pictures of the young Kennedys lined up in a row. Think of the warm and fuzzy pictures that politicians send out at Christmas with their kids in matching red sweaters. Or, in the case of Mitt Romney, in matching blue shirts at a baseball diamond. Big families=Americana.


I think Palin's family will still resonate positively with the American people. However, this is probably the first time in American history that having a lot of children is being painted as a political negative for a candidate.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Feel good......

JoyAnn said...

These people running for President didn't run on motherhood.