If "Pickles" is a "Dud" then which "First Lady" would be a Complement?

[KoKo]

Which one of our Dem Candidates "First Ladies" would be someone we could really admire. Or, has Chimp made "First Ladies" a "non-topic?"

Just asking. :shrug:

[Democrats unite]

1. Anyone of them.

IMO

[last1standing]

2. I'm more concerned about our president.

I don't insult Laura Bush and I found it disgusting when the repubs did it to Hillary Clinton and Chelsea. Can't we strive to live up to the beliefs we espouse? Or are we just partisans no better than freepers?

[baggypants]

3. Amen, brother. You got it right

[Bombtrack]

4. I think Laura Bush doesn't deserve any admonishment here

what has she done to any of us? She never knew her husband was going to become president.

And she obviously is as uninterested in the issues as her husband, sure that's not ideal. But she's also not performing badly in her job as first lady, which is just to be sort of a diplomat-lite, and a pleasant enough person.

[KoKo]

5. Bombtrack, I'm with you, here. Laura (Pickles) has gotten a bum rap on DU

She was obviously picked to "stay quiet, and in the background" as the First Lady of the Right Wing.......and she's played her part to the "UTMOST" never waverering or showing a sign that she has any opinions of her own.

She has been in the mold of Mamie Eisenhower. Without the "hats."

She's been magnificent. I shouldn't have used her in my post.

I'm trying to get to the MODERN FIRST LADY, here. What should we expect of our Dem Candidates Wives.

I think it's an issue. So, I keep posting it. :-)'s

[calimary]

6. Well I, for one, do NOT appreciate a Stepford Wife as my purported

role model. I can't relate to a woman like that. I don't keep myself "seen and not heard," walking deferentially and passively two to three steps behind my husband. I want a woman to whom I can relate. Someone with her own goods to bring to the table. Because, like it or not, a First Lady is a Primier Advisor. NOBODY has access to a President like a First Lady does.

When the Clintons were making the rounds, I, for one, rather liked and appreciated the slogan they sometimes used - "buy one, get one free." And I'd bet that many of the men who reviled Hillary had a wife at home who either "knew her place," or who they wished would shut up.

[KoKo]

9. Calimary, I agree. And, she's NOT Modern, but she's what the RW Wanted...

in that she's an "old school female from the past." I blame it less on Laura than on the Chimp and his handlers. She's a "throwback." Not my kind of "First Lady" but then only Jackie Kennedy or "Bird" Johnson would have been my "First Picks" and maybe a little of Betty Ford and Rosalyn Carter (Rosie being an all around great person) but I wonder which of the Candidates will uphold what the MODERN Female thinks, and I think it's important.

My worry about Dean is that he used Evan Bayh's first lady as his "hostess" when he was head of the Governor's Thingy. Now, I'm thinking
that since his wife doesn't like social functions so much....who will do it for him? AND, Kucinich doesn't even have a wife!

I think it's something to think about. And, I'm not seeing a strong First Lady with our frontrunners and think "down the road" it could hurt them in some way...:shrug:

[maxanne]

7. ha

of course she knew. He didn't get to be president by accident. The wheels were spinning long before he ever became governor of Texas.

They pawned her off on him to clean up his image, so he could run for office.

She's a phony. All that fake concern for the women of Afghanistan lasted about 5 minutes. Remember Laura canceling the poets at the White House because one might speak against the war? She's a badly dressed puppet, who is an insult to all thinking women.


Elizabeth Edwards would be a terrific first lady. She'd be a terrific candidate in fact. She laughed when I told her that, but it's true.

[KoKo]

11. I have to agree that of all of them, Elizabeth Edwards seems to be a good

one. And, I can't stand John Edwards (not trashing his supporters here, because I gave money and a little time to support his NC Candidacy and yet I've turned on him.) Elizabeth is the "Power" behind Edwards so I have to admire her over him.

I don't see any other "Elizabeth's" although Gephardt's wife is pretty impressive if one checks her out, and Lieberman's. But neither one of their hubbies would get my vote, so there's the problem. We need to focus on the "front runners." Even though things could change for them down the road.

As compared to Kerry's "Theresa" Elizabeth Kerry is more the Modern Amercan average female who isn't average. Little kids birth....well with maybe "test tube" stuff after her son was killed in accident, and yet she is a Professional (lawyer) but has been married to the same guy she met in College. Her "new family" is very much in the mode of those having children in their 40's and 50's so she's very much a 21st Century Female, in that respect.

Theresa Heinz, though, is in the "Jackie" mode. IMHO.....

[Bombtrack]

13. Elizabeth is great, She's the only first wife candidate I've met

but you're going way over board on Laura Bush.

It's insipid to imply "fake concern" when you have no way of knowing what she's feeling.

For all you know she's much more moderate than her husband is.

She isn't an intellectual. Big deal.

Look, people here on the hard-left and those on the hard right don't get it. The Bush's and the Kennedys and Clintons want the same ends usually. They disagree on the means.

[maxanne]

16. kindly don't tell me

what I get and don't get.

If Laura's concern for Afghan women was real - she wouldn't have ditched them like a hot rock, which is precisely what she did. She's a part of the BFEE - and here you are defending her. That's really a hoot.

[Bombtrack]

17. there's no such thing as the "BFEE"

there is the right-wing establishment, yes. And the Bush's are a highly respected and powerful part of it, but people's paranoid comic-book villain like fantasies here are really a big part of the reason that so much of the left is not taken seriously

[Raya]

8. Is this a trick question? First Lady Question is Easier than President.

Frist, let me say that I am not a Kerry supporter. However, I and my friends have been comparing the Wives to see what other influences we could get into the White House with a DEM ticket. My conclusion: I agree with Al Sharpton -- Mrs. Kerry is the PARTY!!

Teresa Heinz Kerry has become the biggest topic within my activist "cell" in arguments over which Candidate to support. She is one of the big reasons to support Kerry over Clark

I have myself lived in 4 different countries during my youth. Nothing compares to being raised and educated in the “Transnational” community for giving one a sense of the world which affects all ones ideas on global matters such as environmental policy, international law, war and peace?

Teresa’s life story, being born in Mozambique, studied in South Africa, worked in Europe, fluent in 5 language, immigrated into the American political establishment, MAKES HER THE PERFECT FIRST LADY in these times of global turmoil.

As ask my "Imagine America" friends: Which White House do you think is better able to renew relations with Old Europe, Russia and China:


Howard Dean and Judith Steinberg
Wesley Clark and Gertrude Clark
Dennis Kucinich and Bachelorette No. 1

or

John Kerry and Teresa Heinz

Most of my friends are Kucinich supporters. But the answer was obvious:

John and Teresa could create the best “image” for the country.


For C. David Heymann, author of “A Woman Name Jackie,” there is only one first-lady-in-waiting who could bring Jackie Kennedyesque style and glamour back to the White House. And that would be Teresa Heinz.

”I think she would return to the White House some of the glamour, culture and stateliness lost over the past decades,'' Heymann told the Track. ``She possesses many of the same qualities as Jackie - sophistication, a stately appearance, a flair for fashion and charm if she wishes to use it. And then, of course, there's all that money.'' And she can speak French!

I pesonally still wish the Party would Draft Al Gore at the convention, because I think Gore deserves the Presidency. But it definitely could be a “mission accomplished” to have Teresa in the White House.

[KoKo]

12. No doubt about it! Theresa could be viewed as a new "Jackie." BUT.....

her hubbie is the question......sadly.

[JI7]

10. where does "pickles" come from ?

how did that name come about ?

[Bombtrack]

14. yeah, I don't know either

I think all these nicknames just make us sound dumb, whatever, to each his or her own

[Cheswick2.0]

15. I prefer one who has a life of her own

and a purpose beyond fund raising and socializing.

[kodi]

18. stick to bush, attacking his ole' lady is bush league

same goes for the guy's kids. leave 'em alone.

frankly i dont give a damn about a candidate's spouse, it distracts from important issues, like what kind of undershorts they wear.

[KoKo]

19. Kodi, the Media Whores will address it later on. I think it's good to

talk about it now. First Lady is important. Hillary Clinton? Laura Bush? Just part of the things we need to talk about, imho. It's interesting to me, anyway.