Political Nanny : scrapbooking the elections

Scrapbooking the Election: Candidates in Love

Madeline Holler — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:02:00 GMT

Warning: this might be a little like walking in on your parents. So if you've got some unresolved issues, you'll want to move on to the next blog. Because today, the loviest day of the year, we're going to take a peek at how the final four candidates fell in love (and how they show it now).

GOP Love: John and Cindy McCain

Now, the McCains' love is never on full display. We have to search for the subtle clues. But here's how he describes the night that they met:

From AZ Central.com: She was lovely, intelligent and charming, 17 years my junior but poised and confident. I monopolized her attention the entire time, taking care to prevent anyone else from intruding on our conversation. When it came time to leave the party, I persuaded her to join me for drinks at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. By the evening's end, I was in love."

Flashforward 28 years ... Here they are as his campaign surge begins after New Hampshire.

On her blog, the McCain's daughter describes this photo as her mom and dad "having a moment."

John and Cindy McCain in a hotel room (no, not like that. Bummer.)

Southern Love: Janet and Mike Huckabee

From The Knot: It was young love for Mike and Janet, who met during junior high school. The two started dating their senior year of high school. Before Mike proposed, he asked permission from Janet's mother and stepfather. "I didn't have money for a ring yet, so I used a pull-tab from a soda can and proposed to her in her living room," Mike says.

Mike and Janet Huckabee's wedding day, May 25, 1974.

Must be inauguration day. Huckabee's in his fat phase. More of him for Janet to love?

Puppy love. Or not. Janet and a slimmed down Mike are in the Arkansas governor's mansion. Looky in the background! Governors' names are tiled into the steps. Fancy!

The Most Examined Marriage in National History: Bill and Hillary Clinton

From The Knot: It all began in the library for Hillary and Bill. "I noticed that he kept looking over at me," Hillary says. "He had been doing a lot of that." After exchanging several looks back and forth, Hillary stood up and walked over to Bill. "I said 'If you're going to keep looking at me, and I'm going to keep looking back, we might as well be introduced -- I'm Hillary Rodham," she says. "The way Bill tells the story, he couldn't remember his own name."

Wedding Day, Oct. 11, 1975

A kiss in Little Rock, Ark., 1992 (From the Telegraph)

He's a former president, she's a new senator. Bill and Hillary in 2001.

Now she's a presidential candidate. And he's, well, sometimes her advocate, sometimes locked away in a closet and told to be quiet. A kiss in the rain, November 2007.

America's Newest Political Sweethearts: Michelle and Barack Obama

It took a month of asking before Michelle would agree to go out with Barack. They went to "Do the Right Thing" on their first date. Then it was love. He swept her off her feet.

Wedding Day, October 18, 1992, at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

A snuggle in Illinois (love the camera ... that must feel so private!) For more on Michelle and the Obama marriage, go here and here.

A post 2004 monumental, much talked about, life-changing Democratic National convention speech. (Needless to say, well done, Barack!)

And in 2008 conceding New Hampshire (hey, don't look so sad. Like a good marriage, you're campaign is about to get better ... much, much better)

Scrapbooking the Election: More Young (Cute) Obama

Madeline Holler — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:32:00 GMT

The glue is still drying on this next page in the Barack Obama's election scrapbook. It's something to thumb through while we wait for the election returns in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. today.

Political Nanny uncovered shots of him with a relative in Kenya when he visited there as a young man.

And here with his mother, Ann Dunham, when he was three or four.

Look at thos sneakers! Now, do you think his mom was thinking, "I'll bet he'll run for president some day"?

Now, if only Political Nanny could track down some home movies ...

Scrapbooking the Election: Baby Pics

Madeline Holler — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 14:02:00 GMT

Awwww, aren't Baby Candidates so cute? Look at those chubby legs. Look at those pretty smiles! Remember when they couldn't walk or talk or propose immigration policy with a team of top experts and the latest opinion polls?

During these quiet moments on the Mega Election Day, let's take a look back at the candidates. In this next installment of Scrapbooking the Election, Political Nanny cracks open the babybooks (or, at least Mitt Romney's -- he's the only candidate with a full pictorial life history online -- that's him up there) and look at the youngest, cutest versions of these already haggard possible presidents.

Mitt Romney (here as the hunky missionary on the right)

Mitt is a "miracle baby," the son his mother wasn't supposed to be able to have.

Fun Mitt baby fact: his name honors two important men in his father's life -- J. Willard Marriott, a family friend and future hotel magnate, and Milton "Mitt" Romney, a cousin of George's and a former quarterback for the Chicago Bears. Uh, connected.

(Is it bad that Political Nanny finds Mitt's father way more charismatic in old black and white photos than she finds Romney in other more dynamic media? Read the entire hagiography on Mitt the boy, the Mormon, the man, the president.

Hillary Clinton (the girl, the bigger girl)

Cute (!), but we all know she's a little sad. (Mean dad issues.)

Disappointing self-description that makes us think, "nature or nurture": her favorite subject in school was history and she got good grades, but she was ... here we go ... "bad at math." Did she throw like a girl, too?

Next youngest photo in the Campaign Scrapbook is a high school picture of Mike Huckabee. (No hunky missionary shots of him, just a knowing smile that says "Jesus loves me!")

Unsurprising Mike fact: At 14, he was an AM disc jockey in Hope, Ark.

Who doesn't love a McCain in uniform? (He's the hunky one, the other guy is his father.)

WTF McCain fact: the movie he most often references is "Weekend at Bernie's"

Ron Paul (he's super not into the fun part of campaigning, so there are no pictures of his uber-serious, gold-standard, ungovernment-funded youth to be found. You'll have to settle for a billion years ago, when he was in his 40s and visiting Ronald Reagan -- look, the pic is signed!)

Mundane yet at the same time fascinating Ron Paul fact: his favorite foods are tilapia and chocolate chip cookies

Baby Barack! (Or, little boy Barack, in Hawaii with his grandfather)

Excellent Barack family fact: His grandmother was called "Toot"!

Photos: boston.com, hillaryclinton.com, Chicago Tribune, deathby1000papercuts.com, CBSnews.com, azcentral.com

Scrapbooking the Election: Candidates' Kids

Madeline Holler — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 22:29:00 GMT

Remember when this presidential campaign looked more like a Disney On Ice tour, what with all the little, little kids running around getting their pictures taken with the stars of the show? Even Grampa Mitt, whose own children are now five strapping grown men, hauled his willing grandson around to mug it up and sway the minds of undecided voters.

Unlike a fairy tale, election Neverneverland takes some serious funding and voter approval to return to again and again. One-by-one, daddies have packed up their Iowa rental homes or emptied their already empty campaign schedules or headed back to the North Carolina compound.

The youngest campaign kids -- and our final hope ... yes, hope! ... at hearing the pitter-patter of little feet in the White House -- are Barack Obama's 6- and 9-year-old girls, Sasha and Malia (pictured above). The rest of this election's second generation aren't as cute as the Obamas. Still, Political Nanny thinks we should familiarize ourselves with who could be calling Mr./Madame President "Mom" or "Dad" next year:

John McCain has a multi-layered family tree -- some of his offspring are way grown-up kids from a first marriage, some way grown-up kids from a second marriage and some thrown in later for good measure. His daughter, Meghan, is very visibly involved in his campaign (she's traveling with him and blogging about it ... and also offering make-up tips). McCain's youngest daughter is Bridget, who you may remember is the daughter he adopted from Bangladesh that some sleazy South Carolina Bush operatives used to undermine McCain's values credibility back in 2000.

McCain: Bridget, 16 and Meghan, 23

Hillary Clinton finally took the muzzle off of Chelsea last month, following the senator's New Hampshire win. Now we not only see Chelsea at all her mom's rallies and debates, we also get to see video of her talking to younger voters.

Clinton: Chelsea, 27

Mike Huckabee is the father of three grown children, a daughter and two sons. His daughter works on his campaign (watch her here ... she has a fantastically rich Arkansas accent) and clearly has it together. Political Nanny doesn't think Huckabee will be the next president ... but Sarah? Well, seems like we'll be nannying her a couple of decades from now.

Huckabee: Sarah, 24

One of Huckabee's sons, David, might be the former governor of Arkansas' skeleton in the closet. In 1998, when the boy was 17, he was involved in the hanging of a dog at a Boy Scout camp. What makes this a problem for Huckabee is that he appears to have fired the director of the state's police force for not helping him out with the problem.

Huckabee: David, 27

Mitt Romney has all five of his sons working hard on his campaign. They've got a website with personal blogs (a few of which need some updating, Ben!). And these guys, what with there being five of them, are all over the campaign trail riding bikes and shaking hands and flashing their big white teeth at the cameras. (Any chance at least one of these guys is gay or liberal or pro-choice or deeply in debt or unmarried or infertile or atheist or anything interesting like that?)

Romney: Tagg, 37

Matt, 36

Josh, 32

Ben, 29

Craig, 26

Ron Paul's "kids," Ronnie, Lori, Rand, Robert, and Joy, are all way grown and parents and some of them are even grandparents. Pictures of them are hard to find. But here's one with Ron and some of his grandkids. To see Paul's two daughters go here.

That sure is one big happy Family Campaign photo album! Awwww, aren't they all so cute?