Running for President? Make Sure Your Child is on Side

Chelsea Clinton could have written the script for political progeny in the 2008 race for the White House. Gaze lovingly at parent when on stage. Lean over now and then when the cameras are near for a gentle head-to-head tap. Say nothing to reporters. Chelsea even turned down a nine-year-old girl's request for an interview.

But the dutiful-daughter role is just not for Meghan McCain, 23, whose father, John, now looks as if he is getting a second wind in the race for the Republican nomination. The very blonde and fashion-forward McCain has no qualms about diverting the political spotlight from her father with her blog, mccainblogette.com, or her outfits, or extra-curricular activities, such as organizing a tattoo contest. A recent entry talked about scoring a great veggie burger.

McCain's blog, produced with the help of another rich young blonde woman, Mary Anne Huntsman, daughter of the governor of Utah and granddaughter of a billionaire, has brought ridicule from some bloggers. There have also been unflattering comparisons with good girls such as Sarah Huckabee, who is field director for her father Mike Huckabee's quest for the Republican nomination, and Cate Edwards, who is taking time out of Harvard law school to stump for her father, the Democrat John Edwards. And let's not talk about the preternaturally well behaved Romney brothers - five of them, all safely married with children. The brothers have been blogging about their father's campaign, and are regularly wheeled out at campaign events to assure Republican faithful that their dad is a fine upstanding family man.

The display is meant to show up Rudy Giuliani, a thrice-married candidate whose own home life is such a mess that his own adult children rarely talk to him. His daughter, Caroline, 17, even briefly endorsed Barack Obama.

But don't be fooled. The younger McCain was once an intern at Newsweek and her blog is as much a part of her father's campaign as the Romneys' anodyne entries. McCain, at 71, is the oldest candidate in the race for the White House, and if his daughter can help him connect with younger voters and women, or play to his image as a maverick candidate who appeals to non-aligned voters, papa clearly feels happy to let his daughter preach.