There was media speculation today that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign might be jeopardized by the fact that both she and her top aide are married to men who cheated on them. I wouldn’t have given that nonsense a second thought if it had appeared in the National Enquirer, the official organ of the Trump campaign. Instead, it was on the front page of the New York Times. It was in a piece about Anthony Weiner once again getting caught with his iPhone at crotch level. The sexting former congressman is married to Huma Abedin, Clinton’s longtime assistant. This from the Times:
“Mr. Weiner’s extramarital behavior also threatens to remind voters about the troubles in the Clinton’s own marriage over the decades, including Mrs. Clinton’s much-debated decision to remain with then-President Bill Clinton after revelations of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.”
Really? Does our culture change that slowly? It took 144 years for women to win the right to vote in this country. They’ve been given a ballot since 1920, but until a few weeks ago, not one of them has ever been nominated for president by a major political party. Hillary Clinton finally breaks through the ceiling’s last shard of glass, only to be told that she should have kept her husband from straying if she wanted to be president. Either that, or divorce him.
Bill Clinton not only cheated and lied about it, he was subsequently rewarded with a 73% approval rating in his second term. But Hillary is somehow disqualified because she didn’t stand on her man or kick him to the curb. And now poor Huma is in the same sinking boat, a powerful woman too busy with her career to properly service her poor husband, who had to go out and find an app for that.
This is all very reflective of American life in the 19th century, except for the app part. Marriage was an asymmetrical institution, more about property rights than partnership. A wife was supposed to tend to her husband’s every need in exchange for his bringing home the bacon or, in vegan households, an appropriate soybean substitute. A husband who frequently strayed from the marital bed brought disrepute upon his wife for not taking sufficient care of him.
I totally get where we have been. What I don’t understand is why is it taking us so long to move on? Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin are among the most powerful people in this country. To blame them for the caddish and ribald choices their husbands made seems so yesterday.
Look, this is not a paid political advertisement for the Clinton campaign. Although I look forward to voting for her, I respect legitimate objections to her candidacy. Many of her public choices have landed her in jams she could and should have avoided. If you don’t trust her, don’t vote for her. If you don’t like her position on trade, don’t vote for her. If you don’t like her tax plan, don’t vote for her. But rejecting Hillary Clinton on the basis of her husband’s sins is taking us back to a place we should have left a long time ago.