Following the campaigns here in Florida, the fourth-most populous state in the union and a large state area-wise on top of that, one of the benefits Republican candidates are more likely to enjoy is becoming increasingly obvious: fruitful multiplication. Two of Mitt Romney's five sons, Tagg and Craig, have been traversing the state on his behalf and stopping at Rock the Vote events and meet and greets. At the Huckabee rally last night, his three children were pretty much running the show (including the alleged dog-hanger, who declined my request for an interview, unfortunately). Only one of McCain's seven kids has been involved with the campaign, but at least there's some possibility there when the younger kids grow up. On the Democratic side, Clinton has just Chelsea, and Obama has only two daughters, and they're a little young to be active in the campaign. More kids means more both more surrogates on the campaign trail, and free employees (which is pretty important in campaigns like Huckabee's where employees have been laid off recently). Of course, Rudy Giuliani is an exception to this rule, as he only has two kids, and they don't seem to like him very much. But one has to wonder whether liberals with presidential ambitions might want to rethink their breeding habits. Forget population control; we've got a presidency to win.
--Kate Sheppard