Since When Is Using Kids In Political Messaging Out Of Bounds?

Now there are people whining about Ted Cruz’ ad, which has a number of kids playing and laughing with a Donald Trump action figure which pretends to be a Republican, pays Hillary Clinton to be his friend and knocks down a dollhouse because of eminent domain.

This is somehow exploitative, and inappropriate.

And we are in the Twilight Zone.

The sanctimony over using kids in political ads is puzzling, because the use of kids in political ads has been so common as to make it unremarkable.

If you really think there is some boundary that Cruz crossed with that funny ad hitting Trump, then you might not have a television, or your memory is gone.

After all, the most famous presidential ad of all time exploited a child far more shamelessly than Cruz is being accused of doing. Don’t try to say you’ve never seen the Daisy Girl ad from 1964…

As in-your-face as that ad is about the kids, Lyndon Johnson’s campaign actually had one which was far, far worse. Some of you may have seen the Ice Cream ad, but for those of you who haven’t seen it take a look…

Here was Walter Mondale having a go at it in 1984…

George H. W. Bush in 1988…

Sure are a lot of shots of kids in this Hillary ad from 2008…

We could come up with a whole lot more.

Kids in political ads, whether in presidential races or otherwise, is anything but new or novel. It would be nice if we could have less hyperventilating stupidity over something which has been a staple of American politics for decades.

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