There’s been some little bit of comment about Mr. Kerry’s mentioning Dick Cheney’s daughter, Mary, during the last presidential debate. You can get the flavor of the discussion in the comments section of this post on Winds of Change. Making use of a candidate’s family, even attacking members of a candidate’s family has been a commonplace in American politics for a long time and is not restricted to any particular party.
During his final re-election campaign in 1944, Franklin Delano Roosevelt found himself defending his Scottish Terrier, Fala, from political attack:
“The Republicans have not been content with attacking me, my wife, or my son. They have also attacked my little dog, Fala, as well.”
It’s no new thing.
