Does the same standard apply to Obama’s children when they are used (or choose for themselves) to make political statements?

Barack Obama’s eldest daughter has a clear message for her father – it’s time to get rid of the world’s nuclear weapons.

Just 48 hours after the U.S. President shook hands with Vladimir Putin over an agreement to reduce their stockpile of nuclear weapons, Malia spotted out wearing not one, but two anti-nuclear T-shirts.

The 11-year-old wore tops bearing the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament’s famous symbol as her father prepared for three days of G8 talks in Italy.

She wore a grey T-shirt to visit the Colosseum in Rome with mother Michelle and sister Sasha, seven, and then appeared to have whipped it off to reveal a mottled white and grey top also bearing the CND logo.

The symbol, designed for the CND in 1958, is now widely used as to signify peace and is also an international sign for anti-war protesters.

Now, personally, I wouldn’t dream of using this clear political statement as an entree to questioning Malia’s parentage or making tacky rape jokes about her, like others have with Palin’s family. Indeed, I have to give Malia credit – at eleven years old, she’s already showing the political maturity of a typical sixteen-year-old,  much like the Americans who voted for her father for purely emotional and symbolic reasons.

But I think it’s fair to question whether her making a political statement like this makes her fair game in the same way that Palin’s campaign appearances with her family were “political statements” that threw open hunting season on her minor children throughout the campaign and for months afterwards.  Clearly Malia’s statement could not have been made without her parents’ knowledge, First Family public events (especially overseas) being carefully image-managed events – which means they are using at least one of their daughters for political messaging purposes every bit as much as Sarah Palin can be said to have used hers.  Would Democrats (and Andrew Sullivan) have any grounds for complaint if right-leaning talking heads now started speculating baselessly on Malia Obama’s paternity, or describing her as a trailer trash slut with a goofy name? 

For the record, while I see no problem in a candidate’s or President’s family appearing onstage with them during campaigns, or their adult children campaigning for them or otherwise assisting their political efforts if they choose to do so, I do have a problem with any candidate making active use of their children to score political points.  What constitutes exploitation for political points is a broad gray area, however, a subjective judgment that varies from voter to voter.  In no way, though, does such use (exploitative or otherwise) justify the mindbogglingly ugly personal attacks that have been made against the Palins over the past ten months.

If similarly ugly attacks against Malia and Sasha Obama do become commonplace as Obama’s term wears on, the left (and Andrew Sullivan) will need to consider the possibility that they themselves set the precedent for such things.