At 58, Ann Romney looks young, glamorous, and rich. Recently, Candidate Mitt Romney's wife has been the talk of the nation. However, this is because she seems to have shed the traditional "campaign spouse trawling for votes" and taken on a different approach.She has never asked voters for their votes, rather going for a "just-us-girls" approach (as the NY TIMES states). Reminding me of Roosevelt's fireside chats, she tries to gain a closeness to the voters - showing off pictures of her children, sharing a heart-wrecking story about her battle against multiple sclerosis that disabled her. Not without her smooth political tactics, she also often describes a manicurist bursting into tears of gratitude because of a education program her husband introduced as governor of Massachusetts.
While she was a liability when Mr. Romney ran for Senate several years ago, the public now sees her much better at retail politics than her husband.
Do you think the spouse of the candidate assists in gaining votes? When you are looking at who to vote for, do you even consider their spouse? How much of a political role do spouse's play when the president is in the office? How much should people take this into account?
Full Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/us/politics/16romney.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
8 comments:
While I don't think the spouse of a candidate should be a factor in voting, I think Ann Romney will win Mitt Romney some votes. Retail politics is the most intimate type of politics, and Ann will surely appeal to many individuals she talks to simply because they will feel "close" to the Romney's. I'm not sure whether Ann's campaigning will win her husband re-election, but she is helping the cause.
I think it is a good politcal move to have an active wife in politics. If anything it is anvantage that his wife is gaining a closeness to voters. However, I don't think people should pay much attention to his wife because she's not the one running for president and she's not going to change the face of politics. The only way the spouse would dramitically effect the candidate is if she was causing legal trouble. But otherwise people shouldn't really take the spouse's roll so seriously in politics.
I agree that Ann Romney will probably win a few votes for her spouse although I don't think she'll have a huge impact. I think this is kind of similar to the question of whether Oprah will win Obama any votes. Even though Romney and Oprah are on different pages in a lot of ways, they seem to have similar styles in terms of the person-to-person kind of campaigning. Plus, they're probably targeting the same population of middle-aged women--I doubt that either are really drawing in many male voters.
Even though Ann Romney will probably win her husband some votes, I think its unfortunate that voters are actually voting for Romney based on their opinions of his wife. If Romney were to be elected, it should be because the voters think he will be the best man for the job, and not because they feel close to Ann Romney. In short, the role of the first lady is too small for the first lady to be a deciding factor in an election.
Retail politics is very strong, but I think it would win Mitt Romney more votes if he was the one practicing it, not his wife. Although it is good for the wife to play a supporting role, I don't think that people should consider this while voting. After all, Mitt Romney is the one running, and the only way his wife should be put into consideration is if she helps shape his actions.
I personally do not look to presidential candidate's spouses when considering which candidate's I would like to win the presidency. however, I do think that there are many people, particularly women, who may look to Ann Romney and be able to relate. Few voters can actually relate to the presidential candidates. However, many women can seemingly relate to Ann Romney (if not relate to her, they can at least see her as a friend figure). This familiarity makes the candidate and his wife more tangible and appealing to the voters who may not be fully aware of politics.
When I think about who my vote should go to I don't usually think about their spouse. It seems like Ann Romney's actions only reflect her and not Mitt Romney whatsoever. Being a realist who thinks prospectively, what would a spouse really do in the office next to her husband? Hillary Clinton took action when her husband was president and the public saw it as an act of favoritism and her health care plan failed. What else can a spouse do when it comes to the campaign front?
I think that the spouse of a politician running for office should be as active as possible and i think that the public has every right to scrutinize a spouse. When an official is voted into office, especially the office of presidnt, the spouse will gain some form of power and influence. For example Hilary Clinton was given the task of changing health care. Mit Romney's wife should be active in politics because she too will have influence if he is elected. I think that there is no reason for a candidate not to be judged by their spouse. That shouldnt be the only reason they vote or dont vote for someone but it can be a factor.
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