Family Campaigning

An interesting component of the Presidential nominees’ campaigns is that of using their family members to enhance their image. This is nothing new; a profile of a presidential nominee’s wife or children has inevitably always been a part of their campaign. People are always interested to get to know a candidate beyond their stances on abortion and military expenditures. Understanding a candidate’s family, to me, helps the candidate to become more human, among other things. It’s a clever and inexpensive way of enhancing the campaign. But this year, I feel it has been taken to a new level, through technological advancements in particular.

One look at Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s official website shows that he has been using the growing phenomenon of the blog to his advantage. Romney’s five sons, Ben, Craig, Josh, Matt and Tagg, have a regularly updated blog entitled the “Five Brothers” blog. One glance at the five brothers blog and one notices immediately how keen the Romney’s are to play up the big, happy family image. They refer to Romney as “dad”, for example: “dad had a great debate last night.” They go on the campaign trail for their father, and blog about every element of it. Scattered throughout the blog are happy-go-lucky pictures of family members ice-skating, and of a possible future first lady making pancakes, among others. I give them, it gives Romney an extremely family oriented feel.

Whereas Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani is often criticized for his lackluster romantic record, Romney seems to play up his nuclear family, hoping to further convince American citizens that he is the perfect fit for the White House. What does this family campaigning do for Romney, in particular? Does it help his campaign for the White House? Does it make no difference at all? Does it merely help to distract from Romney’s wavering issue stances? Is it important to understand a candidate’s family, to know where they come from? Does a candidate’s family and family history make a difference in them as a viable presidential candidate?