Judith Steinberg Dean

I was thinking about Howard Dean’s wife since I read this profile of her in the times and the subsequent blogger commentary. And now she has come to her first campagin event.

There was a lot of talk about how her staying in Vermont hurt her husband’s campaign. She won’t be out there to help “humanize” Dean and make him seem more familiar to people. But people seem to know more about her than any of the other candidates wives. How much do we know about Jane Gephardt (I had to look her name up)? We only know about Teresa Heinz Kerry because of her money. Staying out of Howard’s campaign gives the media a story.

None of this is intentional. I imagine Judy would stay home taking care of her patients no matter what. But having a wife dedicated to being a doctor, who is staying mostly out of politics, yet getting covered has to help Howard’s campaign.