# So, your son or daughter is running for President of the United States **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 26, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-son-or-daughter-is-running-for-president-of-the-united-states/720900 "2015-05-26T20:11:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-son-or-daughter-is-running-for-president-of-the-united-states/720900/21 "2015-05-28T10:21:38Z")
I’d publicly and vocally support the opponent - any kid of mine who turned Right Wing would _already_ be openly estranged from me, anyway, so it wouldn’t exactly hurt. Unless the RW in the OP is somehow diluted from the current anti-woman, anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-non-religious, anti-science, anti-non-White, anti-social-equality ideology of the Right. Some people treat politics like a game, a way of keeping score, or like it doesn’t _really_ matter, but it’s not and it does. It’s very much a real struggle. I’m Left Wing to the core, I don’t tolerate RW friends, why should I tolerate RW family? The RW wants to destroy everything I hold dear. Again. I’d proudly pull the lever for my kid’s opponent, if my kid is RW. I’d also publicly make statements like “looks like I didn’t get my vasectomy soon enough, maybe this’ll make up for that oversight” as I did it, too. “Blood is thicker than water” is a dangerous belief. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-son-or-daughter-is-running-for-president-of-the-united-states/720900/22 "2015-05-28T12:54:13Z")
**MrDibble** , you do realise that by doing that, you would probably guarantee their victory. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-son-or-daughter-is-running-for-president-of-the-united-states/720900/23 "2015-05-28T12:55:50Z")
I would follow my child’s campaign manager’s request, whatever that may be. A strong show of support by me might spell doom for the candidate! ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-son-or-daughter-is-running-for-president-of-the-united-states/720900/24 "2015-05-28T13:27:04Z")
In the OP scenario, I would have already spent the 2 years before Iowa strongly discouraging him/her in private and making it perfectly clear s/he could not count on me. Once the actual race is in and they insisted in ignoring my wisdom, I’d probably make a name for myself turning a firehose on any media trampling my lawn trying to get a reaction from me for or against him/her. Biggest news about me would be that I’m fiercely defending my privacy vs my offspring’s public fugure status and the mystery as to why don’t I say jacksquat about their campaign. …and meanwhile let them report on the mystery about who is the unknown blogger on TOR that keeps hammering the candidate 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-son-or-daughter-is-running-for-president-of-the-united-states/720900/25 "2015-05-28T15:15:23Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > **MrDibble** , you do realise that by doing that, you would probably guarantee their victory. I thought _I_ was the _deciding_ vote, as per the OP’s last question. …and no, I don’t think so, voters often tend to view candidates who don’t come from “perfect” families as flawed, somehow. That undecided 10% from the first set of questions is going to wonder _why_ we’re estranged, and hopefully listen to the reasons I disagree with my daughter (Note, I’d only make that vasectomy remark as and if I were casting the deciding vote, _not_ while I was just campaigning for the other guy. By that point it’d be the end of voting day and what I say isn’t going to influence anyone. Up to then, my campaigning would be issues-based. I _can_, actually, be quite diplomatic if I need to be.) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-son-or-daughter-is-running-for-president-of-the-united-states/720900/26 "2015-05-28T16:23:15Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’d do whatever he asked and say whatever he wanted me to say. The hell with politics - my kid comes first. What if your kid advocated a first strike on Moscow? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-your-son-or-daughter-is-running-for-president-of-the-united-states/720900.md?page=1)