What is it about Republicans attacking wives?
Throughout the Clinton era, the GOP seemed to attack Hillary Clinton as often as Bill Clinton. Then-First Lady Barbara Bush said she couldn't describe Hillary on television but the word rhymed with "witch." That was probably the kindest thing a Republican said about Hillary Clinton after 1991. From there, it only went downhill.
Pick on Girls
And in the 2004 campaign, there was an entire flanking maneuver on Theresa Heinz Kerry -- Republicans even boycotted her late husband's company and squeezed their own "W" ketchup.
And when the Bush administration had a problem with former ambassador Joe Wilson, they didn't go after him. They went after his wife. Valerie Plame was a CIA agent. Some "senior administration official" outed her -- possibly in violation of a 1982 federal law designed to protect CIA and other intel agents. Commentator Robert Novak says at least two sources outed her. Presidential advisor Karl Rove admits he talked about Ms Plame's job -- but says he never mentioned her name.
Karl Rove says he simply referred to Valerie Plame as "Joe Wilson's wife." This wasn't about her -- but her husband. It's become hard-wired for the right to go after the wife if they have a problem with the man.
A Pattern Emerges
That says a lot. Can you remember this kind of automatic attack on Laura Bush or Barbara Bush? Even movie critics defended Barbara Bush when she was made the butt of slapstick humor in the Naked Gun comedies. With Nancy Reagan the attacks even came from the GOP -- people within the administration who had problems with her influence over Ronald Reagan.
Can you imagine someone referring to these women as someone's wife -- instead of calling Laura Bush or Barbara Bush or Nancy Reagan by name? Can you remember the last time a Democrat attacked the wife instead of the man he was in a fight with? Think back to the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Do you even know the name of Newt Gingrich's wife? Or Henry Hyde's? Or Karl Rove's?
Fight Like a Man
Politics is often described as a "full contact sport." Harry S Truman said "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." You need a thick skin and hard head to be in politics. Your spouse is just along for the ride. Too often they are becoming "collateral damage" in the war of words.
Thank God for the Republicans that the Democrats have Rep Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as one of their leaders. Now, she's a woman who is legitimate target. But her husband should be worried.
Wait a minute, the GOP may be afraid to take on a man. (Watching Washington Commentary)
2 comments:
LOL. Great post. I guess "if you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen" has been replaced with "if you can't fight your way out of a paper bag, beat up a girl."
You know, the case could be made that the reason has more to do with the women stepping out with more politically pointed statements.
When Bill put Hillary in charge of healthcare reform, he made her a target. When they shopped themselves as a "two-for-one" deal, she became fair game.
Teresa Heinz Kerry said some really stupid things (politically). I don't recall Rosalyn Carter doing anything that overt.
The GOP doesn't have a monopoly on attacking women. Katherine Harris and Linda Tripp come to mind. The parodies and things said about both of them veered sharply out of the bounds of the political arena, and centered more on weight and makeup. Not to mention the things written and drawn about Condoleeza Rice. If the GOP dared say anything remotely similar about a black female Democrat, we'd still be hearing about it.
So I guess the difference is that Republicans attack married women, and Democrats attack single women.
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