As campaign props, political spouses and children have long held a place somewhere beside red, white and blue bunting, yard signs, buttons and balloons. But this year, perhaps more than most, presidential politics has become a family affair.
There was Laura Bush -- whose husband once promised that she would never have to deliver a political speech -- giving the first major address at the Republican National Convention. There was the little matter of that kiss Vice President Al Gore planted on his wife, Tipper, at the Democratic convention. Their daughter Karenna Gore Schiff has become a close adviser to Mr. Gore. And the story of Hadassah Lieberman's journey from the daughter of Holocaust survivors to the wife of the Democratic vice-presidential nominee has come up many times on the campaign trail.
But the hardest-working family in this election cycle may be that of the Republican vice-presidential nominee, Dick Cheney. The whole family has gotten into the act. His wife, Lynne V. Cheney, a well-known figure in her own right, gives spirited speeches to warm up his audiences. His older daughter, Liz Cheney-Perry, is in charge of preparing him for the coming debate against his Democratic rival, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, and she arrived here today to oversee a mock debate. And his younger daughter, Mary, plays perhaps the most important role of all.
