The Next First Lady

I happened to hear a video of an interview with Melania Trump yesterday.  She is, of course, the wife of Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for president, which means that if he were to be elected, she would be the first lady.

We do not vote for the first lady.  She comes along with the package, and I'm not sure that I can recall where any candidate has benefited or lost votes because of who he was married to.  We didn't really know Jackie Kennedy much until she became first lady, and her husband never ran for office again after he was elected in 1960.

In 2016, we have way more mentions of Bill Clinton, who would be the "first lady", or whatever he gets called, if God forbid, Hillary were to be elected, way more mentions in the press than we do of Mrs. Trump.  We understand that; Bill is a former president, known worldwide, and he has been out on the campaign trail.

Bill actually being on the campaign trail is a mixed blessing.  He has dumped lines out there, for example calling Obamacare "crazy", and calling Trump supporters "rednecks", that are fairly controversial, or would be if the press weren't too busy licking his boots to make an issue of it.  But he is out there, and at worst he is a neutral contributor to the Hillary campaign.

Melania Trump is a whole different being.  Obviously, she is not out on the campaign trail, which is ostensibly to be at home with their son, who is ten or eleven years old, and we get that.  If I were either Donald or Melania, I would not be wanting my son of that age to be home alone (i.e., without a parent present), with someone else watching him, when the Clinton hit machine is in full force attacking his father.  That young boy needs a parent right there.

Unfortunately, by not being out there, we are only given small glimpses of exposure to the type of person we can assume she is, from the collective interviews.  That's pretty much a shame.  Having seen Melania Trump speak with reporters and interviewers a few times, I'd actually be really happy to have her as first lady -- and on the campaign trail.

She is an elegant lady, careful in her speech -- English is not her first language, of course -- but clearly passionate about her family and her goals for them, and for her causes.  I think you can tell that she is more upset about the things her husband has said in the locker-room vernacular, themselves, than the fact that they came out in the first place.  I also think that she made that clear behind closed doors.

The role of the first lady is complicated; some seek out the spotlight, while others simply work in the background, either for their family, their causes or both.  We have to respect that choice.  After all, the first lady is not the one elected, but the spouse of the person who will lead the nation.  Her opinions, in fact, her history as well, do not affect the country (her aim with an ashtray in the White House, however, could have, had it been any more accurate in the Bill Clinton era).

So to say that I would be quite happy to have Melania Trump as first lady, isn't to say that it would make the running of our nation any better.  But I think it would simply be a successful tenure, where the first lady's presence and carriage before the nation would be a great benefit, notwithstanding the expectation that the press would find ways to mock her (though for what, I can't imagine).

Just a wandering thought on a Wednesday ...

Copyright 2016 by Robert Sutton
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