POLITICIANS
KISSING BABIES
G'day folks,
Ever wondered why politicians kiss babies during an election campaign? Me too!
Baby-kissing
may be a campaign trail cliche—and a germaphobe’s nightmare—but it’s also a
time-honored American political tradition. According to George W. Bush
Presidential Library and Museum Director Alan Lowe, who researched the subject
for the institution’s new “Path to the Presidency” exhibit, the earliest
recorded instance of a politician puckering up dates to 1833 when President
Andrew Jackson toured New Jersey. As Jackson stopped to greet a mother and
baby, the woman thrust her little boy into his arms. “Ah! There is a fine
specimen of American childhood!” declared the president, who then passed the
dirty-faced infant over to Secretary of War John Eaton for him to kiss.
While “Old
Hickory” outsourced the job, his successor, Martin Van Buren, reportedly kissed
quite a few babies, and the tradition took off. Not all politicians, however,
embraced baby-smooching. President Grover Cleveland, perhaps not wanting to
remind voters of reports that he had sired an illegitimate child, flatly
refused.
In 1968, Richard Nixon declared, “I won’t wear a silly hat, or kiss a
lady or a baby.” He told Life Magazine that he feared such “stunting” would make
him “look like a jerk.”
Lowe says that
candidates engage in baby-kissing because it can help them connect with voters.
“The campaign trail can be a rough-and-tumble place, and this shows a softer,
gentler side of candidates,” he says. “Voters want to elect someone who is a
decent person, and this makes them more relatable.”
That means
engaging in an activity that’s not the most hygienic. “As a mother,” said 1984
vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, “my instinctive reaction is how
do you give your baby to someone who’s a total stranger to kiss, especially
with so many colds going around?” Ferraro may not have understood the strange
campaign ritual, but she kissed the babies nonetheless.
Clancy's comment: Mm ... Yuk!
I'm ...
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