Her name is Michelle Obama and if voters give her what she wants, she'll be the new first lady of the United States next November. The wife of U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama delivered a personal and rousing speech to delegates at her
party's convention in Denver Monday night.
She now joins a host of prominent political wives down south whose names you recognize instantly: Hillary Clinton, Barbara Bush, Jackie Kennedy and Eleanor Roosevelt.
But with a federal election appearing almost certain in Canada, it's almost impossible not to compare our system with those of our closest neighbour. And nowhere is the difference more apparent than in the spouse spotlight.
Canadians can rhyme off the names of most U.S. first ladies in a second. But ask the average voter to list even a few wives of Canadian political leaders and you're more than apt to get a blank stare.
Most in Toronto know NDP chief Jack Layton's wife, Olivia Chow, who served as a councillor here for decades. Jean Chretien frequently made reference to his wife Aileen in his speeches. Maureen McTeer was almost as well known as Joe Clark. And the whole world is aware of Margaret Trudeau.
But what's the name of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's wife? Who is former P.M. Paul Martin married to? And who does Liberal leader Stephane Dion say goodnight to every evening?
Experts say it's the nature of our political system, which focuses more on the leaders than those who love them. But making it a family affair carries a certain amount of risk.
"It's always a two edged sword when you deal with political spouses," agrees former Liberal Party of Canada president Stephen LeDrew. "In some cases, you know, they can lose votes for you ...
"On the other hand though, by bringing a spouse into political play, it gives the voters another person to either like or dislike."
A new poll out of the U.S. appears to back that up. It claims nearly half of all Americans agree
the candidate's wife is a factor in who they vote for.
But that's clearly not the case north of the border, where a quick quiz of some future ballotcasters by
CityNews proves a candidate's significant other really isn't so significant at all.
"They're not the ones running, right?" one constituent observes. "I mean, it seems more so like that down in the States. It's more about the pageantry and whose wife, you know, what they're like or whatever. But up here it just seems more or less that people are concerned with the platform, the issues."
As for knowing who Stephen Harper's wife is? "Um, I can't remember her name," admits another voter. "But I did watch something on the news a couple weeks ago about it."
But she doesn't hesitate when asked who's married to Obama. "Michelle," she answers quickly. How does she know that? "Michelle Obama had a spread in 'People' a couple of weeks ago. So I read it."
For the record, Harper's wife is named Laureen. Paul Martin's spouse is named Sheila. And Stephane Dion is married to Jeanine Krieber, who doesn't use her husband's surname.
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