Obama, Romney campaigns celebrate Father’s Day [video]

Both President Obama’s and Mitt Romney’s campaigns celebrated Father’s Day on Sunday, in a brief respite from the increasingly heated presidential race.

The Obama campaign, which has been promoting a Father’s Day card for the president in the buildup to the holiday, released a video celebrating the holiday, and trumpeting his parenting.

First Lady Michelle Obama opens the video by emphasizing that her husband is always “giving his children the kind of stability and continuity that he didn’t have.”

The video honoring the “hands-on dad,” in his wife’s words, makes a point to contrast Obama’s own personal experiences growing up in a less stable household with the life he seeks for his daughters, Sasha and Malia.

“When we’re sitting around the dinner table, he’s not Barack Obama, president of the United States. He’s Sasha and Malia’s dad,” Michelle Obama continues.

The holiday wasn’t all praise for Obama, though. On Friday, he joked with campaign supporters that his wife has given him a hard time for calling Father’s Day a “forgotten holiday,” in a conversation overheard by the media. Michelle Obama has told the president that “every day is Father’s Day” and he’s “always getting a treat.”

Romney’s campaign, with a video reminiscent of one released in honor of Mother’s Day, broke out the home movies to put together a montage of the candidate playing with his kids, with his five sons reminiscing about their life with the former Massachusetts governor.

“He was a goofball. He loved to horse around,” son Tagg Romney said.

“A lot of the time he just got confused for one of the boys,” Matt added, as the old footage shows a contrast to the businessman so commonly portrayed on the campaign trail.

Romney and his penchant for pranks, which have lead to his family title “the Great Entertainer,” is a particular focus in the video, with his sons recounting pies in faces, name-calling and scares in the basement.

The video also touches upon Romney imparting his sons with a sense of community in helping snow-bound neighbors and those unable to afford heating in their homes, before concluding with a declaration of a happy Father’s Day to all.

morgan.little@latimes.com