I enjoyed reading this article in the Richmond Times Dispatch: Goofy kids upstaging their political parents with welcome comic relief: ‘We all needed that laugh.’ [1]
It reminded me of a story involving my youngest son, Kevin, when he was about eight years old.
In 1995 I was elected to serve in the Senate of Virginia. It was a tough campaign against a 20-year Democrat incumbent, and it was a highly politicized election year. We talked a lot about getting the “liberal Democrats” out of office and replacing them with “responsible, conservative leadership.” I won the election by 587 votes.
In January of 1996 I was sworn in to serve in the Senate. When I took the oath of office all the Senators were gathered together in the Senate chamber, and my wife, Jean Ann, and our two sons, Matthew and Kevin, were seated in the gallery. The time arrived for me to take the oath of office and the Senate chamber grew silent. In the midst of the silence I heard my 8 year old son loudly ask his mother: “Momma, where are those liberal Democrats?”
As you might imagine, my face was quite red with embarrassment, but the other members of the Senate found it quite amusing. They burst into laughter and all was forgiven for this unintentional breach in decorum.
Yep, you never quite know what small children will do when you take them to public events. I speak from experience!