In my lifetime, daughters have had a higher profile in their father’s presidencies than sons. Let’s look back:

• John Kennedy: Caroline
• Lyndon Johnson: Lynda Bird and Luci Baines
• Richard Nixon: Tricia and Julie
• Gerald Ford: Susan
• Jimmy Carter: Amy
• Ronald Reagan: Maureen and Patti
• Bill Clinton: Chelsea
• The Current Occupant: Barbara and Jenna

And while there are notable exceptions — George H.W. Bush, whose sons need no discussion — most of these presidencies were shaped in no small part by the White House daughters. Yes, Carter, Ford, Kennedy, and Reagan had sons too, but it’s their daughters we most recall, and their daughters who help develop our perception of them as people.

So what effect, if any, does the Daughter Factor have on the current race? That’s hard to say. Barack Obama has only girls, two totally cute small ones. And while Meghan McCain, whose blog has helped her dad with youth cred, is the best known, she has a passel of siblings.

Meghan McCain

There are the children from his first marriage – Doug and Andy, from his first wife’s former marriage – whom he adopted when they were young, as well as a daughter, Sidney. Then there is the second family: Meghan, Jimmy, Jack, and the McCains’ adopted daughter, Bridget, 16, who became a target of dirty campaigning in the 2000 presidential race when she was portrayed as the child of an illicit union.

Meghan, 23, seems like most Republican 20-somethings, or at least a whole lot like the Bush twins, which is to say vacuous and self-absorbed and heavily made-up. Her blog is mostly pictures, filled in with little posts about travel, who wore what, and her iPod.

The Obamas — Malia, 9, and Sasha, 6 — have spent most of the campaign with their mom, Michelle. If a recent ABC interview by Robin Roberts is any indication, the girls would be a source of frequent “Awww” moments in an Obama White House. After taking to task Republican-backed ads which questioned Michelle’s patriotism, the Obamas discussed their daughters’ desire for the family to have a dog. The exchange can only be termed charming.

The Obama girls

Robin Roberts: “Have the girls, Malia and Sasha, have they gotten their dog?”

Barack Obama: “No dog yet. The dog — ”

Michelle Obama: “The deal on the dog is a year from now. Because what we know about raising a dog is you have to be pretty stable so you don’t drive your dog crazy. So we had a conversation around the dinner table about a month ago because this came up, ‘When is the dog coming?’ So we figured a year from now, in the spring, we would be settled one way or another and we shook on it.”

Barack: “And that we also had a year to test whether they are sufficiently responsible —”

Michelle: “They are responsible. Malia is responsible.”

Barack: “They’re responsible, for a 9- and a 6-year-old they’re responsible, but whether — ”

Robin Roberts: “That’s a daddy talking.”

Barack: “Whether they’re going to be responsible in the middle of winter to go walk that dog — ”

Michelle: “I’m going to take care of it.”

Barack: “— When it’s cold outside.”

Michelle: “We’re getting a dog. The dog is a done deal.”

Barack: “The dog’s a done deal. Who’s walking the dog, that’s what we’re concerned about.”

Michelle, looking at camera: “Babies, you’re getting a dog.”

You can watch the whole interview here.