Judy, Judy, Judy

While the other top-tier Dem candidates' wives are fixtures on the campaign trail, Judith Steinberg Dean has been steadfastly staying in Vermont, tending to the Deans' son and the medical practice she once shared with her now-famous husband. But Judy briefly joined Howard for a campaign stop in Iowa early this week, and both Deans made it onto national TV last night, sitting down for a talk with Diane Sawyer on ABC's Prime Time Live. Plenty of pundits have called it the Deans' damage-control, "stand by your man" interview, akin to Bill and Hillary Clinton's sit-down in the primary season 12 years ago, and there may have been an element of that. Certainly, this has been the roughest week for Dean so far (though, as he pointed out, things have been relentlessly rough for Dean for about two months now, ever since he became what seemed to be the clear Dem front runner).

Whatever the reason, the Deans came across as a couple very much in love after 23 years of marriage, and Judy emerged as a woman who knows (and has!) what she wants -- a strong family, a thriving career, and an egalitarian marriage. She places more value on time spent with her family than on "things." Part of her misses Howard when he's on the campaign trail (they said they speak on the phone at least once daily when he's gone), but a stronger part seeks to serve her patients and be present for the Deans' high-school-aged son.

It's a beautiful thing to see how these two people have forged a life where both partners can follow their passions and yet remain strong together. (How many of us can relate to that? I'd guess millions.) They laughed together at Sawyer's replay of Dean's Monday-night speech; Howard said it was "hardly presidential," and Judy said he isn't an angry man and doesn't hold grudges. Both Deans emerged as healthy, well-adjusted people who believe that a Howard Dean presidency would be a very good thing for our country but if it doesn't happen, life will go on, largely because they have each other.

Comments

[Dancing Larry]

Hi, blue-stater (MA) stopping by your blog! Go Red State Rebels!

I was utterly moved by seeing Howard and Judy together on the Diane Sawyer interview last night. The genuine warmth, the naturalness with which they reached out to one another, hand in hand, his arm reflexively around her, shows a love that has stood the test of time.

While Howard Dean's political agenda holds enormous promise for children in so many ways, health care, education, Success by Six, a balanced budget, perhaps the greatest good a Dean presidency would do the children of America would be as an example of how two people can thrive in a truly egalitarian marriage, a living lesson in the commitments and compromises that can make this modern incarnation of true family values work, even at the very pinnacle of our society.

Thank you Judy and Howard, and godspeed.