The Journal Times Online - Racine, Wisconsin

As if the weeks of robo-calls, campaign canvassers and campaign ads weren’t enough, my husband and I had to sit through two more stump speeches last week. Only these stump speeches came from our daughters. We were sitting in the sunroom enjoying a peaceful evening – my husband was reading, I was getting some work done – when surprise! Two more candidates entered the race. My 6-year-old grabbed her High School Musical microphone, climbed onto the ottoman and started yelling at us:

“I’m here because I’m ready to be president of the United States of AMERICA!” she yelled into the microphone. “I’m on Barack Obama’s team and together we want to be president!” (Full disclosure: She was on Hilary Clinton’s team during the primary – “She’s the girl,” she explained then – but she’s since decided Barack Obama’s name is more fun to say.)  

“Here’s why I should be president,” she continued. “I’ll never lie. Presidents shouldn’t lie and I WON’T LIE. Right now we’re winning; we have the most scores. But if John McCain was here, he’d be winning, too. We all just need to DO OUR BEST.”

Her stump speech continued for a good 10 minutes. I won’t subject you to the full transcript (although I was holding a pen at the time, and in typical obsessive-mom fashion, I scribbled down the entire thing). Rest assured, she addressed the big issues: Health care (“we all need to get flu shots even if it hurts!”), education (“just try your hardest!”), the environment (“clean up your mess!”). She also offered what I think is the election season’s best sound bite: “I’m voting for myself. But you know what I’m really for? MYSELF!” 

If only all politicians were so honest.

She ended her speech on a positive note: “I always keep my promises,” she yelled in the microphone. “And if I don’t win, I’ll think of something different to promise and it will stay in my head until the next time I run for president. So think about THAT!” 

And then she was done.

Next up? My 4-year-old. She had utilized her additional prep time by dressing in her purple sequined flapper dress, so she climbed on the ottoman in full glittery glory. “Listen to ME!” she shouted into the microphone. “I’m trying to be president. And this is what I say: Kids should never climb trees without their moms, never jump on couches, never go in a fire.” She paused dramatically and looked down at the floor, where dozens of plastic Playmobil people sat in rapt attention. Then her Kid Rules-themed speech continued. “In a fire, if the door is hot, DON’T GO! If the door isn’t hot, YOU CAN GO! We should never hide when we’re in a fire. You have to listen and think IN YOUR BRAIN!” 

She didn’t touch on health care or education, but what her speech lacked in substance, she made up for in style. She added a shimmy here, a princess wave there. And her kicker? “The president has to be nice and he has to care. He can’t say, ‘I give up.’ I WON’T GIVE UP! And you should never step in puddles because you don’t know how deep it is.” 

With that, she blew a kiss to her audience and curtsied. “Good BYE!”

*  *  *

When I was growing up, my family didn’t talk much politics. My mom voted one way, my dad voted the other; they joked all the time that they canceled each other out. But they didn’t argue, and they didn’t attempt to paint us kids red or blue. (The first presidential election I remember was Mondale vs. Reagan in 1984, and that’s mainly because a fellow fourth-grader hung a Mondale/Ferraro bumper sticker in her locker. “She’s the girl,” we shrugged.) 

As we got older, my siblings and I formed our own opinions, and political discussions became pretty lively in our house. I fondly remember dinners during high school (and later, when we’d come home from college) in which we’d challenge each other’s opinions and argue until the sun went down. 

My daughters have caught the campaign bug earlier than I ever did. They are absolutely captivated. At 4 and 6, they’ve been hearing candidates’ names discussed by adults since they were 3 and 5. My 4-year-old has been saying “Rocko Bama” since she was 3 – so a quarter of her life. But she likes all of them. Just recently I yelled to my husband, “Hey Jon!” and she came running: “John McCain?!” 

They count yard signs on the way to school. They’ve heard their aunts, uncles and grandparents talk politics with their friends. I’ve shushed them during the debates. They’ve overheard morning news shows. They recognize that this is what all the adults are talking about, so they want to talk about it, too. We’ve told them the basics: How everybody gets a vote, how everyone has a right to their opinion, how the vice president is sort of like the assistant principal, how we have to respect the president, no matter who ends up winning.  

It’s not important to me that my children grow up sharing my political opinions. They’ll form their own opinions – and then we’ll argue.  

What about your family? Are your children watching the presidential campaigns? Do they know who you’re voting for?