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medpundit |
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Wednesday, January 14, 2004The other thing about a medical practice is that it's more than a full time job. You can't just drop everything and jet to the next campaign appearance every weekend - even if you have partners. Whenever one person from a group is absent, the others have to do more than fair share of the work. Too frequent absences foster resentment, unless there's a good reason - such as serious illness. Supporting a husband's political ambitions wouldn't qualify in most groups. UPDATE: A reader says I'm missing the point about Mrs. Dean: Her absence is going to hurt Dean's campaign. People want to know what they are getting when they vote for a president. Why is his wife MIA? Could it be that she isn't that sold on him being president? Could be. Is she ashamed to be seen in public with the guy? Can't this guy who wants to be the leader of the free world even convince his wife to support him publically? Personally, I find this woman strange and creepy. If all she wanted to do was run a medical practice, she should have chosen another guy to marry. What's wrong with her...and him? Also, her independent feminism is really off-putting. Even Hillary, one of the most independent (if not the most) first lady in history, was frequently seen by her husband's side. This is going to help doom Dean. It certainly won't help. It's possible to support your husband without being attached to him at the hip. And although I realize that for a significant portion of voters, her absence will be off-putting (as will be the fact that she doesn't wear make-up or power-pink suits), she has legitimate reasons not be on the campaign. It's wrong to base an estimation of Dean as a leader on his wife's entirely understandable decision to continue to work. There's a lot that's wrong with Howard Dean, but his wife isn't one of them. And one more thing - Hillary Clinton got a lot of praise for being the first career woman First Lady, but her career was so wrapped up in her husband's, that she was really no different than other powerful and influential First Ladies (Nancy Reagan, Eleanor Roosevelt.) I'd rather have a First Lady like the two Bushes (Laura and Barbara) or Judith Steinberg who limit themselves to the role of spouse, and stay out of politics. posted by Sydney on 1/14/2004 09:45:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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