Presidential Grandsons Enter the Family Business

ABC's Jessica Hopper reports from New York: The grandsons of Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon are joining the family business. Jimmy Carter’s eldest grandson, Jason Carter, won a suburban Atlanta state Senate seat on Tuesday night.  Jason, 34, is the first in the Carter family to win elected office since his grandfather took the White House more than three decades ago.  Christopher Cox, the grandson of former President Nixon, is seeking the GOP nomination to run for the New York House.  Cox,30, was born five years after Nixon left the White House amid the Watergate scandal.  Cox isn’t worried about the infamous Nixon name hurting his political chances. “I’ve honestly only seen upside at this point,” Christopher Nixon Cox said.  “Wherever we go, people say that my grandfather was their favorite president." But some disagree.  “The name Nixon does not exactly evoke a positive image among all voters,” said Lawrence Levy, the head of Hofstra University’s National Center on Suburban Studies and a longtime observer of Long Island politics.  “Among a lot of voters, Nixon means Watergate and Watergate means disgrace.” In Georgia, the Carter name is still a favorite among Democrats, but Jason Carter chose to focus more on the issues than his grandfather.  In the final days of the campaign, Jason did let his grandparents stump for him. In New York, Cox faces a fight with about a half dozen other Republicans for the state House nomination. The aspiring politician says Nixon, who mostly talked with him about the Mets and Giants before his death in 1994, did provide advice that may come in handy between now and November. “You’re going to get knocked down time and time again, but keep coming back,” Cox said.  “The only time you lose is when you stop trying.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.