How Low Can You Get: Using Kids As Political Props

Jillian Bandes | March 19, 2010 1:26 PM

The bill might go through, but at what cost? Analysts are busy assessing of the electoral consequences of Obamacare, but what about political self-respect? I'm talking about the Democrats latest tactic of pushing the bill by using children -- using them as actual props during their sales pitches for Obamacare.

My article yesterday explored this child-exploitation trend, and here's Todd Irons, former deputy communcations director at the Republican National Committee:

It seems whenever the Democrats are entering some tough sledding on their legislative priorities, they trot out the children. It does seem to smell of desperation.

Kristen Soltis, a pollster for the Winston Group, told me that it won't matter in the end:

While Pelosi may want to use the visual of young people to increase support for the bill, in the end it will be the content of the bill - not the optics of press events - that Americans will hold Democrats responsible for.

That's probably true. But it doesn't mean it doesn't deserve to be called out as reprehensible in the meantime.