6 thoughts on “Judging a Politicians By His Kid”

  2. What I’m picking up more here, at least from Slate, is there’s a sense that racism and homophobia., etc., are almost purely learned behaviors. (As opposed to alcohol addiction, for example.) I’m not sure I buy that …

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    1. “(As opposed to alcohol addiction, for example.) ”

      Alcohol addiction doesn’t have a social component? I’m happy to believe that there’s a large genetic component, but there’s got to be a social/cultural factor? In Russia, the cultural factor is very visible, as there’s traditionally been tremendous peer pressure among mature adult men (not just young men) to drink heavily.

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  3. This argument would have more credibility if Slate or the Daily Beast applied it to the child of a Democratic politician. I won’t hold my breath.
    To answer the question, the behavior of a politician’s children, or any of his other relatives, or anything to do with his personal life, is very low on my list of evaluative criteria.

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  4. Well was RFK Junior a anti-vaccine nut at 14? Then, I would blame RFK (some) for his inadequate education of his son.

    Hillary Clinton gets a lot of credit from me for having raised a kid who seems to be doing OK by all the regular standards of life (as does Jackie for Christina). Mitt & Anne’s kids seem to be doing OK, too. I do judge parents by whether their kids are the kinds of kids I’d like mine to know.

    And, even if we agree that alcohol addiction does have a social component, the thing about racism and homophobia, and especially a comfort with it in casual conversation, is all social (which addiction isn’t, by its biological definition).

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  5. Mind you, though, my voting is mostly determined by whether I think the politician will work to enact my point of view and not on their character.

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