Some conservative knees are jerking at references to Jeri Kehn Thompson being Fred Thompson's "trophy wife." Since the term refers to a beautiful woman who marries a wealthy, much older man, usually as his second wife, I'd say the glass slipper fits. Saying she's "accomplished in her own right" doesn't ring true. We all know and admire the accomplished women in our lives. What would put her in their company? The only thing being offered is her approximately five years of having good, if rather amorphous jobs in Washington (political consultant, media consultant), and she got those after she hooked up with Fred. That's not exactly pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps or mastering something difficult. Her B.A. is in English and she holds no advanced degrees.
The Washington Post did an extensive write-up of her in August that looks at her background, if you'd like to know more.
I'm in tune with Fred Thompson's political ideals and am glad he's happy in his personal life, but I can't see his wife as First Lady material.
You can find profiles of some our potential First Ladies here. I'm not finding any on the list appealing, except, oddly-enough since I don't care for her husband, the truly accomplished Michelle Obama. Laura Bush is going to be a tough act to follow.
Posted by floridacracker at October 4, 2007 09:24 AMFrom the photos I've seen, she has two, main attributes.
"Fred" and "Thompson." What did you think I meant?
Posted by: CJ at October 4, 2007 01:57 PMI can think of several "accomplished" ladies just in my own neighborhood. They're all gifted and have excelled in life by dint of their own efforts, no sugar daddy involved.
Posted by: Donnah at October 4, 2007 02:11 PMWhat about "first men"?
Posted by: Tim at October 5, 2007 08:51 AMBill as First Gentleman. No, no, I really don't want that to happen.
Posted by: Donnah at October 5, 2007 11:38 AMHeh, how the heck did "Gentleman" and Bill Clinton get combined in the same sentence? Isn't that an oxymoron?
I can see Jeri as first lady, in fact I prefer her over any of the other candidates wives. As for being accomplished, whats that got to do with the person running for office?
Last I heard tell Hillary was a hack lawyer that had help turning a $10,000 investment into $100,000 in a shares trading deal along with some fancy financial manipulations in a holding company that earned her a lot of cash and bankrupted a lot of others.
Posted by: Gmac at October 5, 2007 03:55 PMShe was called "accomplished in her own right." I was responding to that. If you're saying the candidate's wife doesn't matter, I'm afraid you're in the minority. Most would say a presidential candidate's wife matters in an election. That's why they're out there on the campaign trail stumping for their husbands. John Kerry's advisers recommended Teresa Heinz put a sock in it because every time she opened her mouth she hurt her husband's chances of being elected.
Well Kerry and Heinz both needed a sock in it..
As for the wife of the candidate..Laura Bush is, as many of the first ladies were going to be a tough act to follow, but that has become a 'popular' trend just in the last century it seems to me.. Jackie set the 'new' standard..
Personally, I'd like to see us step back from making the first lady an integral part of how we see our CinC. In fact,if we don't get serious about who is actually making those decisions we are headed for trouble..
Posted by: csason at October 6, 2007 07:35 PM