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  Yo Mama

  Posted Thursday, December 13, 2007 12:21 PM | By Christopher Beam

  It’s nothing new for candidates to exploit their families. Mitt Romney makes regular appearances with his entourage of chiseled, heterosexual, all-American sons and their wives. But with the caucuses approaching, candidates are pulling out the nuclear option of familial endorsements: their mothers.

  Hillary has a new campaign ad featuring her mother, Dorothy. Dorothy wants voters to know “what a good person she is. She never was envious of anybody. She was helpful.” Earlier this week, the Edwards campaign announced the shocking news that both of John Edwards’ parents, Wallace and Bobbie, have endorsed their son. (Watch them phonebank for him here.) John McCain trotted out his 95-year-old mom this week, too. “If there’s any questions we might have about any age problem in this campaign, there’s my genes,” he says, pointing out his mother.

  Mothers are the perfect campaign weapon. First of all, they prove that someone loves the candidate—even if he’s a candidate only a mother could love. Showing your softer side isn’t always a smart move, but when it’s your mother, no worries. Secondly, they’re non-controversial. No one is going to question a mother’s motivation or doubt their sincerity. And lastly, mothers are irrefutable: What they say, goes. Rival campaigns don’t dare accuse someone’s mother of lying or cheap shots. (Wives, by contrast, are not immune to this.)

  Of course, dotty parents can also be a liability. McCain’s mother embarrassed the campaign in November by vaguely suggesting that Mitt Romney’s work at the Olympics was tainted by his Mormonism.

  But in general, introducing your mom can only help. Barack Obama, whose family life has been more complicated that most other candidates', has yet to bring his mother out on the trail. If he makes it to the general, the people will no doubt want to meet the parent.

  UPDATE 1:59 p.m.: Scratch that last part. Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, died of cancer in 1995.
  

About Christopher Beam

• Christopher Beam is a Slate political reporter.

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