SUZANNE TATE: Kids Speak Freely When Talking About Presidential Candidates

Pollsters seem to talk less of race and gender because adults, with their more finely tuned filtering systems, posture and fawn their way through answers.

Children have their filters off, if they have filtering systems at all. So it was especially enlightening to listen to my sons talk about their thoughts on the 2008 presidential race.

At 11 and 7, they are old enough to know the basics. As with anyone, their views are colored by what they hear from their parents, other adults, their peers and television. But they were remarkably passionate about some issues.

On Friday before the election, gathered around baskets of nachos, and after trick-or-treating, the boys offered their thoughts and predictions.

Nelson, my 11-year-old, flatly thought Republican John McCain was too old. Understandable, coming from a child barely in double-digits. But McCain has been white-haired for decades, I told him. And he’s just a few years older than my parents, who look much younger than their actual ages. That wasn’t swaying Nelson.

He thought McCain seemed older than his actual age and unlikely to command authority because of it. Or in kidspeak: He’s a geezer. Again, the kid’s 11. I’m not yet 40 and I’m old, too.

So what qualities should the president have? I asked. The president should be smart, speak well and get others to follow them, both boys agreed.

But both McCain and Barack Obama do that.

The boys were excited about Obama, but for different reasons.

Miles, 7, said Obama reminded him of one of his best friends, who is black. That 7-year-old logic made me chuckle, but it also made me realize that a younger generation of children does not see race as a barrier to anything.

Nelson wanted to see a minority president out of a sense of fairness. There has only been white, male presidents, so a woman or a black person deserves a turn, he suggested. He said he thought Hillary Clinton would have been a good choice for president because women deserve a chance to lead the country. Wow. That was pretty powerful stuff coming out of the mouth of an 11-year-old boy.

But he is used to seeing strong women in leadership roles. He knows a woman could, and eventually will, be president.

Nelson told me that McCain had won the mock election at his school. Why did he think most kids supported McCain? I asked him. A lot of them probably voted for McCain because their parents support him, he offered. And they are afraid Obama is going to take away their guns, he told me.

Ah, now we were getting somewhere. I asked Nelson if he believed that.

“No, Mom,” he told me. “Obama has said he supports the Second Amendment. Plus, you would have to change the Constitution and that’s not gonna happen.”

That was a pretty good answer from an 11-year-old who loves to go hunting. Compare it to a recent angry caller to my office, convinced their rights were in peril, who thought the “Fourth Amendment” guarantees the right to bear arms.

I didn’t egg my son on or discourage him from his views. More than anything, I listened. I was more anthropologist than mother, curious to hear his reasoning for various political points. He’s entitled to his opinions and seven years away from voting – who knows what views he’ll hold when he first goes to the polls and it counts.

More than anything, I wanted my sons to know they could talk to me and share their thoughts.

Moments later I walked right into a childish setup over whether I was eligible to vote.

“Mom, you have to be 18 to vote,” Miles told me.

“I know, honey,” I told him.

“Then you can’t go, because you’re not 18,” he said, cracking up.

Cue the knock-knock jokes.

Suzanne Tate is opinion page editor of the Bristol Herald Courier and can be reached at or (276) 645-2534.