Abedin Joins 'Wives of Unfaithful Politicians'

The Washington Post reports

Never has the life of a politician’s wife been less glamorous. Behind the requisite pearls and neat sweater sets, example after example shows political wives are being sullied and cinched by their mates’ once-prestigious appointments.

Just consider how male politicians’ better halves are cast. Most often—whether political wives’ mates are running for presidential office or a seat in Congress—these women are seen as mere accessories. Buoying their husbands, they’re coached to smile and wave, not say anything “too much their own,” and to avoid controversy at all costs. Many play the part requested of them, and rarely do we walk away with a clear sense of who these women are or what they really think.

For all of this loyal deference, the favor isn’t being returned in many politicians’ high-profile marriages.  Shame, embarrassment and mortification are more likely on the menu—and inevitable, if you happen to have a husband whose eye wanders.

Think of the sex scandals that have rocked the civic marriages of women like Maria Shriver, Silda Spitzer, Hillary Clinton, Jenny Sanford, and now the pregnant Huma Abedin, wife of former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner. Each of these women was extremely accomplished in her own right, without the help of her significant other—employed as a journalist, a high-flying lawyer, an investment banker, even a secretary of state’s special assistant. Still, when a scandal breaks, we don’t see these women’s top-notch educations or professional accomplishments. The portrait more often painted is one of a tragic, hapless victim.

In spite of the damage caused, it seems that male politicians who cheat feel infallible, confusing their span of authority with a false sense of being untouchable. When John Edwards, for example, was asked about why he cheated by ABC’s Bob Woodruff, he blamed the affair on the hero worship involved in political life. “I went from being a senator, a young senator, to being considered for vice president, running for president, being a vice presidential candidate and becoming a national public figure. All of which fed a self-focus, an egotism, a narcissism that leads you to believe that you can do whatever you want. You're invincible. And there will be no consequences."