So, your son or daughter is running for President of the United States

Hypothetical scenario:
Your son or daughter is between 45 and 60 years old, very smart, very educated, an inspiring speaker, successful, accomplished, outspoken in political views, and very popular. He or she is running for President of the United States, and is currently tied in the polls with his/her opponent (let’s say, 45% to 45%, with 10% of voters undecided.)
There’s just one problem: Your son or daughter’s political views are opposed to yours. And neither you nor anyone else can talk him or her out of their views.
So, if you’re a liberal, then your son or daughter is a diehard right-wing conservative…running against a liberal opponent.
If you’re a conservative, then your son or daughter is a diehard left-wing liberal…running against a conservative opponent.

Would you endorse your son or daughter’s campaign? Boycott it? Support their opponent? Simply say nothing?
And, in the astronomically unlikely scenario that the entire presidential election outcome came down to *your *vote - say, you’re in *the *deciding swing state and the vote is tied 500,000 to 500,000 (and you somehow knew this) - who would you vote for?

When interviewed I’d stick to the bland platitudes: I’m proud of his/her accomplishments; we knew he/she was destined for great things; blah blah blah.

When pressed on whether I share political ideologies, I’d stick with “I’ve always encouraged all my children to study the issues carefully and then trust their own judgement.” If the interviewer persisted I’d modestly say that my child isn’t working a hidden agenda, his/her political views are right out in the open for any voter to agree or disagree.

And when I stepped into the voting booth on election day, I’d thank the Founding Fathers for the secret ballot.

It depends on the degree.

If my kid, God help us all, is an extremist, holding wild and dangerous ideas, I’m definitely going to say so, any time anyone will listen to me. If they invite me to go on Good Morning America to denounce my own kid, I’ll damn well do it. It will only be a blip in the media circus, but I’ll have done my job.

If the disagreement is only a mild one, and the differences are moderate, then I’ll follow kunilou’s reasonable approach, and soft-pedal my criticism.

(Also…are the other candidates actually better? What if my kid is a rotter, but still the best of a really bad bunch?)

And, as for the final question, if I had the deciding vote, I’d vote for the “better candidate,” i.e., the one I more closely agree with. If my kid isn’t that candidate, I vote against my kid.

(Payback for all those sleepless nights changing diapers and so on.) :wink:

Here’s what I would do:

I would refrain from working for the opposing candidate, lest that information be disclosed.
I would show up on election night and remain quietly in the background. After all, agree or disagree, this is my child and I’m proud of his accomplishments, even if not in agreement with his politics.

Here’s what I wouldn’t do:

I would not go out and campaign for said child
I would not do anything publicly to undermine the campaign.

This sounds reasonable. I vote for this.

No one is going to care what a dead guy says. When either of my kids is old enough that is what I will be.

If by some miracle I’m still alive I’ll have no problem standing in the background smiling and waving. If asked for more I’m with Michael Corrleone, never go against the family.

I really dislike the political arena. Everything you say or don’t say gets pulled out of context and debated by three half-wit pundits who can’t be bothered to check the facts. I don’t have anything in particular to hide, but I sure don’t want the press starting a Twitter-frenzy over the fact that I didn’t eat the socially conscious food choice at the local diner that once hired an illegal immigrant.

So… whether I agreed or not with the kid, I would be very emphatic that I will not have any involvement in the campaign or any publicity surrounding it. Frankly, I’d have had a conversation with them encouraging them not to run. I’m sure reporters will need some kind of statement, so I’ll give the usual platitudes about being proud of their accomplishments, etc.

Is my hypothetical kid an otherwise good person who I have a good father/child bond with or is he/she a miserable shitbag (at least in my eyes) who I am estranged? Something in between?

I would probably support my kid 100% and vote for him/her. Then hang out in the oval office and try my hand at arm-twisting.

You’d be thanking the wrong people. The secret ballot only came to the United States in the late nineteenth century, and when it was introduced it was often referred to as the Australian Ballot, which gives a hint as to where the inspiration came from.

In my life, to me, blood is thicker than anything short of crime. They would get my vote.

I may not agree with her politics, but I know what kind of a person my daughter is. She would get my vote.

OK, let’s see. I’m a Spaniard (no, I’m not “renouncing all other loyalties”), in my 90s or higher, and one of the political bullets my child’s opponents have is that “your mother moved in and out of the US several times!”

You know, I don’t think my endorsement would be particularly helpful. If those political differences aren’t fundamental ones (we have different notions about how to fund services and which services to fund, but “the kid” is not a bigot or a complete imbecile), they’ll get my cheering from the sidelines, but no endorsement (because I don’t think it would be helpful) and not my vote (because not a citizen).

My uncle once ran for the Spanish Senate. We were at a family function and he came up to me and asked “are you voting for me?” “Hmmmm, let me see… why should I?” “What? Because I’m your uncle!” “If that’s the only reason you can give me, then no. I vote on the basis of programs, not connections.” His son: “toldja :p” He got the same response from everybody, but seriously, if that’s the best argument he could offer, why the hell should we vote for him? We all wanted someone with better reasoning skills!

As a Canadian I never understood the friction between ex-hippie “Family Ties” parents Steven and Elyse Keaton and their Republican son, Alex.

There are only two parties, and Alex chooses the other one: big deal.

Of course, once my political compass matured it became apparent. But back in the 1980s I just didn’t get it at all.

If either of my children run for President, some internet warrior will figure out that their mother is WhyNot on The Straight Dope Message Board, and their political ambitions will crumble in a few quotes about polyamory, abortion and legalization of drugs.

But let’s pretend the hamsters expired and the SDMB is no more and cached webpages don’t exist. Then, what they said. If it was simple disagreement, I’d stand around smiling and biting my tongue, but I wouldn’t help with the campaign and I wouldn’t vote for them, either. If I felt they were actually dangerous to our country, I would actively work against them.

I’d stay out of the spotlight and vote for the other guy on Election Day.

I’d do whatever he asked and say whatever he wanted me to say. The hell with politics - my kid comes first.

Even presidential candidates have crazy relatives. If my kid’s good enough to be a canidate, I’m not vain enough to think that anyone really cares what I think.

If you were sassy enough about it you could carve out a Miz Lillian-style niche and be the media’s favorite quote-generator for a while.

Too dangerous. There’s like a 9% chance of being murdered in office. Or in the more usual units, the office of the presidency has an annual murder rate of 1,770 per 100k. Compare to Detroit at 45 per 100k. No vote.

Seconded, if I had a kid who was eligible.