Opinion

Candidates with their baby photo-ops

President Obama and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney in dueling baby embraces in Florida -- Obama on Aug. 2, Romney on Aug. 13.

President Obama and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney in dueling baby embraces in Florida -- Obama on Aug. 2, Romney on Aug. 13.   (Justin Sullivan / AFP / Getty Images )

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They’re germy, they’re squirmy, they can’t even vote, and still they get face time -- and kissy-face time -- with presidential wannabes. More: Candidate smooches baby! But why? --Patt Morrison

Mitt Romney with the town crier

Mitt Romney confronts a not-so-happy young constituent in Springfield, Va.   (Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images)

Bob Dole approaches with caution

In September 1996, GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole looks but doesn’t seem to touch in a baby moment during his run against President Clinton.   (J. David Ake / AFP/Getty Images )

Hillary Rodham Clinton's good-luck charm?

Hillary Rodham Clinton was campaigning for the U.S. Senate in March 2000 in New York City when she bussed a green-swaddled baby at the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. Maybe it conveyed good luck -- or is that legend about a leprechaun, not a baby?   (Matt Campbell / AFP/Getty Images)

I scream, you scream, we all scream

John McCain was in Greenville, S.C., campaigning in that primary state in February 2000 when a young child began caterwauling at being presented to the Arizona Republican senator, who answered with a yowl of his own.   (Tim Sloan / AFP/Getty Images )

A crying baby, or a symbolic foreshadowing?

George W. Bush, then Texas governor, signing autographs at a campaign stop in West Palm Beach, Fla., in September 2000, tries to calm down a not-quite-fan.   (M. Spencer Green / Associated Press )

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