The Daily Background

NYT:

AS the election of 2008 approaches with its cast of contenders who bring unprecedented diversity to the quest for the White House, the voting public has been called on to ponder several questions: Is America ready for a woman to be president? What about a black man? A Mormon?

I’ve written before “Forget Women, African American and Mormon candidates– Is America ready for Lobbyist-in-Chief?” But here’s the NYT’s take on it:

Now, with the possible candidacy of Fred D. Thompson, the grandfatherly actor and former Republican senator from Tennessee, whose second wife is almost a quarter-century his junior, comes a less palatable inquiry that is spurring debate in Internet chat rooms, on cable television and on talk radio: Is America ready for a president with a trophy wife?

Ha! It may be blunt, but it’s true. He’s 64, she’s 40 and a model. They got married after Thompson had been divorced once, and she has bleached blonde hair. She spells her name “Jeri.” What will the supposed “family values voters” think of her?

Of course, the Thompson we’re-not-a-campaign-yet campaign is trying to spin it and say she’s a “professional woman” despite the fact that she apparently hasn’t worked since they got married in 2002 (not that she uh, got married for the money or anything) and when she did work, she was a “professional” RNC/NRSC lackey, which is not exactly in the same league as say Michelle Obama, who has seved on hospital boards and done nonprofit work.

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