With schedules that often are incredibly hectic, politicians running for office have turned to mediums more lively than television or radio as of late: Their daughters.
MSU will get a taste of this campaign tactic today as Vanessa Kerry, daughter of presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., visits campus to speak to students about various issues and try to garner support for her father.
The visit, which will take place at 4 p.m. in the Wonders Hall Kiva, is sponsored by MSU Students for Kerry and comes after several stops Kerry recently made in Iowa.
Vanessa Kerry, who is taking time off of school to help her father, has been campaigning to young people on her father's behalf recently because students can relate to her, said John Kerry spokesman Dag Vega.
"She speaks from their perspective and she understands the concerns that students throughout the country have," he said.
Kerry, who is expected to speak on environmental issues, foreign affairs and how to make higher education more affordable, is not the only politician's daughter who has picked up their parent's torch.
Several weeks ago Chrissy Gephardt addressed students on campus on behalf of her father, Congressman Dick Gephardt D-Mo.
Chrissy Gephardt's visit inspired the creation of a student group on campus in support of her father. It also left some unsatisfied, however, as the openly gay social worker failed to speak about LBGT issues as many hoped she would.
Other daughters who have spoken on their parents behalf in the past include Karenna Gore Schiff, who campaigned during her father Al Gore's run for the presidency, and Chelsea Clinton, who spoke on her mother Hillary's behalf when she ran for senator in New York.
David Rohde, an MSU political science professor, said it is no mystery why politicians enlist their children to campaign for them.
"This is just another way of a candidate multiplying his or her presence," he said. "This is someone who's younger than Kerry that can speak on a different level with college students."
Rohde added that presidential hopefuls such as Kerry and Gephardt, who are very busy with their campaigns, can use their children as a sort of surrogate.
"It may not influence people but it has the potential to, and therefore, why not do it?" he said.
Missy Kushlak, Student Assembly chairperson for MSU's undergraduate student government, said that while John Kerry is not visiting personally, his daughter could sway student opinion.
"Of course, him coming in person would be more effective," she said. "But I think that she can be effective to an extent because she can relate his ideas to students.
