# Do Politicians Still Kiss Babies at Campaign Events?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-politicians-still-kiss-babies-at-campaign-events/741249>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Created:** [December 24, 2015, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-politicians-still-kiss-babies-at-campaign-events/741249 "2015-12-24T07:50:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-politicians-still-kiss-babies-at-campaign-events/741249/1 "2015-12-24T07:50:24Z")

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This is a standard cliche, but I don’t recall seeing it happen.

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**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-politicians-still-kiss-babies-at-campaign-events/741249/2 "2015-12-24T21:36:52Z")

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Bump, 'cause inquiring minds want to know!

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**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-politicians-still-kiss-babies-at-campaign-events/741249/3 "2015-12-24T22:12:25Z")

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President Obama sure did it [frequently](https://www.google.com/search?q=obama+kissing+babies&biw=1440&bih=742&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjH_O-mwvXJAhVX0mMKHX3gCIIQ_AUIBigB) during his two campaigns.

I haven’t followed this year’s festivities closely enough to know, but I’m sure as long as there were supporters offering up babies, there were politicians kissing them.

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**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-politicians-still-kiss-babies-at-campaign-events/741249/4 "2015-12-24T23:14:56Z")

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I should hope not – it’s [a rather unsanitary habit](http://comicsalliance.com/ask-chris-119-the-election-of-the-century/).

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**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-politicians-still-kiss-babies-at-campaign-events/741249/5 "2015-12-24T23:37:28Z")

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Vladimir Putin has been known to get down on his knees and kiss a little boy’s belly.

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**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-politicians-still-kiss-babies-at-campaign-events/741249/6 "2016-01-12T16:58:59Z")

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Given they way they are scrubbing on the hand-sanitizer after every handshake, I would guess no.