Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Purely My Opinion: What's With The Attack Wives?

Has anyone else noticed that two of the major Democratic presidential candidates are having their wives do their fighting for them? Michelle Obama and Elizabeth Edwards have both been utilized in recent weeks to attack their opposition, both Democrat and Republican. Whether it's questioning Hillary's womanhood or ability to run her own house, or ambushing Ann Coulter on a talk show, these women seem to be content to be the sword of their husbands' campaigns.

I suppose that's fine; a married couple is a team, after all. What I find interesting is the fact that these attack women are throwing around the vicious headline-worthy statements while their husbands (the people we'll actually be voting on) can take a much more moderate 'official' stance. It seems to be a new tactic for playing both sides - the attacks still get publicized, but the campaign's official stance is much less provocative.

My concern with this is that the candidates appear to be hiding behind their wives. In my opinion, if a candidate has to hide behind someone else (nothing against the wives here, it would be the same for anyone doing the attacking) to make their political points, are they really Presidential material? The President, almost by definition, has a very large minority of the country against him/her at any given time, and thus has to have some extremely thick skin, along with a diplomatic tongue. If these guys can't handle the pressure themselves, maybe they should go home. Americans vote for a President, not a Presidential couple.

Something to think about.

There's my two cents.

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