Meet the presidential candidates' biggest liabilities

EYES ON THE PRIZE But the 2008 front-runners should watch out for these renegade loved ones

The presidential candidates may be limelight-ready, but happily, the same can't be said of their family members. In the long slog of the campaign, we need zany relatives—like good ol' boy Billy Carter, alcoholic Roger Clinton, and reefer-mad Al Gore III—to create scandals, hog the camera, and generally keep the race from degenerating into dullsville. Thankfully, the 2008 election offers a number of potential diversions. Here are a few of our favorites:

UPTOWN GIRL Cate Edwards

1. Cate Edwards
AGE: 25
IN A NUTSHELL: Jenna Bush with better shoes
WARNING SIGNS: Undercut the man-of-the-people image of her father, John Edwards, by working at Vanity Fair and founding urbanistaonline.com, a "Rolodex" for "urban fashionistas" who fancy $500 jeans and $800 shoes.
WORST-CASE SCENARIO: Takes her father to Graydon Carter's Waverly Inn only to have the New York Post jump all over the North Carolina populist for eating $55 mac and cheese.
MONEY QUOTE: "The only prints I own are by Marc Jacobs."

Photos: White House, Mark Wilson/Getty Images; Edwards, Getty

HOS UP, RUDY DOWN Caroline Giuliani with Britney Spears

2. Caroline Giuliani
AGE: 18
IN A NUTSHELL: Estranged emotional orphan
WARNING SIGNS: After being hospitalized for an eating disorder, gave a speech at her high school thanking every member of her family for their support—except Rudy.
WORST-CASE SCENARIO: Appears in a rival's attack ad saying Dad's decision to do a "scoop and dump" on the human remains at Ground Zero mirrored his approach to divorcing her mom, Donna Hanover.
MONEY QUOTE: "There's obviously a little problem ... between [us] and his [new] wife," says her brother, Andrew.

Photo: Patrick McMullan

UNHEARTED David Huckabee

3. David Huckabee
AGE: 27
IN A NUTSHELL: Spoiled redneck sociopath
WARNING SIGNS: Republican Mike Huckabee's gun-obsessed, portly son was arrested last April for trying to smuggle a loaded handgun through airport security. Allegedly defrauded the student activities board of Arkansas State University out of thousands of dollars. Was once implicated in the brutal killing of a stray dog.
WORST-CASE SCENARIO: FBI agents dig up a pet cemetery behind his trailer.
MONEY QUOTE: "My business doesn't file taxes."

A WIFE LESS ORDINARY Jeri Thompson

4. Jeri Thompson
AGE: 40
IN A NUTSHELL: Controlling trophy wife
WARNING SIGNS: Taming Fred Thompson, one of the Capitol's most notorious swordsmen, by sheer force of will is no mean feat. Thompson's advisers claim the buxom beauty controls every aspect of his campaign.
WORST-CASE SCENARIO: Shuts down Fred's presidential bid when she catches him talking to a comely voter.
MONEY QUOTE: "They just won't leave him alone. I can't get up to get a cocktail at a party without coming back and finding some girl sitting in my chair. ... Don't they have any pride?"

Photo: Getty

FEELING NO PAIN Cindy McCain

5. Cindy McCain
AGE: 53
IN A NUTSHELL: Recovering painkiller addict
WARNING SIGNS: Admitted in 1994 to raiding the pharmacy of her charity, the American Voluntary Medical Team, to feed her insatiable appetite for hillbilly heroin.
WORST-CASE SCENARIO: Pulls a Kitty Dukakis and falls off the wagon in the middle of the campaign.
MONEY QUOTE: "When people think of drugs, they envision some guy in the street with cocaine, which, quite frankly, was my arrogant attitude as well."

Photo: Getty