Mitragyna Speciosa

  • Kratom guides: medically reviewed kratom articles
  • Kratom resource: evidence-based kratom research
  • Kratom vendors: best kratom vendors (in 2021)
  • Best kratom: best kratom strains to try for pain
  • Kratom for pain: recommended kratom strains
  • Best kratom for anxiety: strains for anxiety and depression
  • Kratom for anxiety: strains for anxiety
  • Kratom for sale: buy kratom here
Connect w/ Donna
  • Home
  • About
  • News & Blog
  • Media
  • Brazile & Associates
  • Contact

Home / News / Proceed With Caution

Proceed With Caution

Posted on: 11-13-2013 Posted in: News

When J.F.K. chose his brother Bobby to be attorney general, many were dismayed – or outraged. It turned out to be a great choice. Elected officials have often turned to family members for advice and support. We expect there to be trust between husband and wife. What kind of marriage is it if there isn’t?

Politicians’ wives are sent out as ambassadors. (For some reason, the husbands of many elected women stay in the background.) We expect that.

But “family time” advice and support or public ceremonial duties, on the one hand, and having a place at the policy table, on the other, are not the same. I remember when Bill Clinton put Hillary in charge of health care reform. Both were viciously attacked – even though Hillary had significant legal and policy experience.

Some argue that “we elected X, not X’s spouse.” That’s true, but the elected official still has a support team of appointees. Some require approval or confirmation. Others he or she just hires. A chief of staff does not need legislative consent.

The truth is spouses of elected officials do shape policy, unofficially and indirectly – that is, if the spouses are on speaking terms. The small talk and pillow talk and breakfast-dinner talk – and the “I know that expression” looks that don’t require talk – all help make policy, because policy is more than just a game plan devised in a sequestered room.

Policy is about proposed solutions and pathways, but it’s also about persuading people to buy into them. A spouse is the first, best audience: a one-person, micro-cosmic sounding board.

That said, an elected official should be careful how much and in what way his or her spouse is involved in policy making. There are, after all, many pitfalls – not least of which might be an in-family blame game. Public uncertainty about who’s got the power is another.

For the elected official, it’s a balancing act. My policy advice? Proceed, but with caution.

About the Author

Donna Brazile
Veteran Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile is an adjunct professor, author, syndicated columnist, television political commentator, Vice Chair of Voter Registration and Participation at the Democratic National Committee, and former interim National Chair of the Democratic National Committee as well as the former chair of the DNC’s Voting Rights Institute.

Recent Blog Posts

  • Ramp it up: It’s time for Biden and all of us to mobilize like MLK to save voting rights.
  • Commemorating Juneteenth: Learn from the past to improve the present and future
  • Republicans must stop planting seeds of doubt
  • Liz Cheney’s ouster should alarm all fact-based Americans who believe in our country
  • The Trump impeachment trial and our duty to history

Donna on Twitter

Tweets by @donnabrazile

© 2019 Donna Brazile - Brazile & Associates
TwitterStumbleUponRedditDiggdel.icio.usFacebookLinkedIn