Yes, children of politicians are off limits as political targets unless they clearly make themselves one and are consenting adults, but in the case of Ted Cruz and his family Christmas story parody video, he has a lot to answer for. I'm sure you've read a lot about the WaPo cartoon scandal by now.
Conservative pundit Charles Krauthammer, has always said he hates candidates using their families as political tools, even at the point of bringing them on stage and I could get down with that thinking. But Ted Cruz didn't just put his two, very cute young daughters in his political video, he had one of them read a story denigrating Hillary Clinton, a political opponent.
Announcer: The whole family will enjoy reading stories like The Grinch Who Lost Her Emails.
Daughter: "I know just what I'll do," she said with a snicker. "I'll use my own server and no one will be the wiser."
Attacking the liberal media is almost more natural to conservatives than talking about cutting government spending, but in this case Ted Cruz needs to be held accountable for his actions as well. Using his family as campaign props is one thing, but having one of his daughters acting like a conservative pundit is quite another.
It should be just as off limits for politicians to use their underage children as speakers for their ideology as it is for pundits to wage unwarranted attacks on politicians' family members, like the ones Chelsea Clinton, at age 12 was subjected to by Rush Limbaugh.
On Nov. 6, 1992, just days after Bill Clinton was elected president, Limbaugh, then 41, called Clinton’s 12-year-old daughter Chelsea “the White House dog.” (Some source say Chelsea was 13 at the time of Limbaugh’s insult but she was born on Feb. 27, 1980.) In 1988, eight years after the Carter administration, Limbaugh called Pres. Carter’s daughter Amy, then age 21, “the most unattractive presidential daughter in the history of the country.” Later he quipped that when he made that sweeping statement, he’d forgotten about Pres. Harry Truman’s daughter Margaret.
Here's a quickie transcript.
David Hinckley of–of the New York Daily News wrote this, and what he has–he’s got–it’s very strange. He says, In: A cute kid in the White House. Out: Cute dog in the White House.’ Could–could we see the cute kid? Let’s take a look at–see who is the cute kid in the White House.
(A picture is shown of Millie the dog)
LIMBAUGH: (Voiceover) No, no, no. That’s not the kid.
(Picture shown of Chelsea Clinton)
LIMBAUGH: (Voiceover) That’s–that’s the kid. We’re trying to…(Applause)
