Yes We Can (hold babies).

There is a long tradition of campaigning politicians kissing babies.

Many political scholars have referred to the “baby kiss effect” as the penultimate test of the capabilities of a nominee. If a politician doesn’t kill the baby with his partisan lips, the country knows he’s capable of taking that 3am call.

Barack Obama, in his majestic campaigning, has kissed many tots, held many youngsters, and charmed many mummies. Photographers snap pictures of these moments, because the images have the power to charm more than just mummies. They have the power to bring joy to the most cold-hearted of politicians, the most unfertile of citizens, and the most cynical of young voters.

Here, on this webspace, I bring you those uterus-rousing portraits, those testis-rejuvenating daguerreotypes, those happiness-inducing tableaus.