Great blog. I’ve been wondering why these women decide to stand next to their husbands too. I always thought it was for public image, but who knows.

“For better or worse”.

Arg.

Eliot Spitzer’s career is over whether is wife stood with him or not at that press conference. He didn’t respect her enough or his family to not cheat on her. And she felt she needed to stand by his side?

Ask Hillary . . .

Lisa,
I’m so glad that someone in the media finally said this!! These women need to open their eyes and see that they are once again just being used to hopefully help get this man out of trouble. They parade their wives up on stage to be humiliated hoping that the public will think that since the wife forgave them then we should too. It’s a load of bull. These women need to get a backbone, tell these men where to go and get off of that stage! No woman deserves to be treated with that much disrespect. No matter who she is married to or what job title he holds. He got into this trouble with out her so he should get out of it just the same and stop trying to use her to get sympathy.

Cynthia, Covington, Ga.

I totally agree. My first reaction was to say to him - go out there yourself. You caused this problem - you deal with it. Mrs. Spitzer did not look like a happy camper and I wish she would have put her foot down and told him to go to hell (which I am sure was done in private). It’s 2008 - the “little woman” is not so “little” anymore. By the way, I thought his “apology” was more like reading a speech. He was about as sincere as a rat. Like all politicians - they are always sorry when they are caught and that’s ALL they’re sorry about! Also, I wonder what he gave his WIFE for Valentine’s Day?

It is an American Standard for a wronged man to bring his wife & stand by him when he apologizes. Women love their husbands for being the provider to the family & willingly or unwillingly are drawn to these circumstances. It is also an American standard to file for a divorce at a later stage. They need to make sure they get the continued financial support to live. Basically a non working house wife is disabled after 18 years of marriage & cannot get on their feet immediately. It is common sense.

Stepford wife? I think whatever women in Mrs Spitzer’s postion do is up to them. That’s a role model for young girls, having the self esteem and backbone to decide for yourself how you’d handle something like this and act on your own choice. Living your life to please the masses is not liberation, but dictation by strangers. I hope Mrs Spitzer does what she wants, when she wants to do it and women should support her choice to do just that.

Lorie Ann, Buellton, Calif.

Lisa–unfortunately your emotional, hate-filled rhetoric only further degrades the image of women… Best to not embarrass us women with your “rant.” Go take a cold shower, honey, and calm down. I hope you don’t own a firearm!

And Lisa, we’re SICK of your Man-Hating Ranting!! Put your keyboard in a tub of cold water already!! LOL! You are embarrassing yourself and your gender with your emotional venting in a public forum like this. Shame on you!

Yes Lisa I think this incident marks a turning point. It is no longer acceptable for wives to publicly support husbands who are supposed to be setting an example. These men are hypocrites. They have the people’s trust that they protect, administer and distribute resources in the most appropriate and equitable way possible.
This may be a blessing in disguise though if Lt. Gov. David Paterson becomes governor of New York.

I agree with your point how you presented it. There is an element of degradation when a wife has to stand and listen to her husband admit to her and the world of the infedelity as the general public is hearing it for the first time.

What is missing in your point is that the wife already knows of the wrong before hand and makes a decision to stand there. She already knows what is going to happen before it happens, it is the general public who is hearing the terrible news for the first time. It was always my understanding that a strong political marriage translates into a stable politician, which means sound political policy. Basically, a sound governor’s marriage makes a sound governor. This is why I thought American’s prefer to elect married officials to public office and shun either single or divorced candidates.

The wife standing there I thought was to be a sign (symbollic I understand) that the office of the governor was intact. There is still stability in the midst of instability.

It would be more of an issue if the wife of the cheating politician was not there. People would then began to speculate. The wife is hurt. There is trouble on the homefront. What does this mean for policy, for his decision making, etc.

Maybe it is time that as a culture, we look at how marriage, divorce, or non-marriage factors into a politician’s right to govern and change the rules.

It’s all for the looks; that is what politics has become. The morally and ethically superior man with power parades his wife out there because, afterall, if she can forgive him, so can the public. Personally, if it were me, divorce papers would be drawn up as we speak. And I’m getting everything.

I was listening to a local radio talk show on my way in to work. They had a brief interview with a former AG. Gotta love his comment, ‘If that was me, I’d be on the kitchen floor and my wife asking, ‘how do I reload this thing?’.”

I agree. It is pathetic. And she looks as if she just stopped crying. It is so sad for her to stand like this next to him and be humiloiated publicly for absolutely no fault of hers!

“But appearing right next to their husband days after he’s been caught with his pants down is a public humiliation, unworthy of women in public life in 2008.”

Yet they still continue to do it—and I bet they’ll be seen there in ‘09 and beyond as well. I can’t imagine why a woman or a guy would stand by someone who (as you said) publicly humiliated them. Of course it boils down to her/his personal opinion, but the rest of us can only stand and wonder. It reminds me of a coworker who was having boyfriend issues (not her first) and said “guys are jerks”. My response was “then why do you keep falling for it?”