Et Tu, Maureen?

In Maureen Dowd's January 15 column, "The Doctor Is Out," she uses Howard Dean and his wife Judith Steinberg as an example of a couple who could benefit from the Healthy Marriage Initiative, the Bush administration's lob at preserving the "sanctity" of marriage. As a huge fan of Ms. Dowd�s, I am disappointed to find out that her views on women and their roles in their husband�s careers are no different than that of the male establishment.

Dowd sides with the contingent that believes that the wife of a presidential candidate should drop everything and jump to her husband�s side. If Dr. Steinberg were the one running for president and Dr. Dean was the stay-at-home parent/physician, you wouldn�t hear a peep. In fact, they�d probably give her a hard time for leaving her family and her practice to run for president. The fact that she doesn�t want to go to Iowa and become embroiled in the madhouse of the Iowa caucuses makes me like her even more -- I�m with ya, girlfriend. There are people among us who purposely stay away from large angry mobs. Since winning in Iowa is supposed to be akin to having your picture turn up on the cover of Sports Illustrated right before the big game, who can blame her for choosing to sit it out? And for Dowd to make some sort of judgment about the fact that Steinberg didn�t go to Hawaii for the repatriation ceremony of Dean�s brother's remains, when you have no idea what her reasons were, is ludicrous and mean.

Then Dowd says this: �Even by the transcendentally wacky standard for political unions set by Bill and Hillary Clinton, the Deans have an unusual relationship.� She wishes they were a little more like the Clintons? Perhaps Dr. Steinberg should follow her husband around the country, standing faithfully at his side while he jumps on everything that moves. Let�s take a look at some first ladies and candidates� wives and what traveling with their husbands who were front-runners for president �with crowds all over America cheering� has done for them, shall we? Roslyn Carter�clinical depression. Kitty Dukakis�substance abuse. Betty Ford�well, the Betty Ford Center. Jackie K�husband didn�t even bother to leave the house when he fooled around. Eleanor Roosevelt�gay. Laura Bush�the most vapid first lady ever. She has this look on her face that says, �I know this guy�s a jerk but what can I do?�

That Dowd cannot see how romantic Steinberg's husband�s gesture of giving her a rhododendron that will make him think of her every time it blooms, is beyond me. Believe me Maureen, and I know you know this, there are plenty of politicians who give furs and diamonds to their wives while they�re giving something else to their girlfriends. But these two are true blue. He takes every Sunday off to come home and be with his family.

But Dowd, unfortunately, has exposed herself as being just another one of our illustrious journalists who will use absolutely anything against a candidate to get the story. I can hear it now. �Dr. Steinberg has abandoned her patients whose families depend on her from birth to death, to do the phony glad-handing-the-potential-Iowa-caucus-goers thing.� It�s this kind of thinking that so many woman are sick to death of.

Today I have heard several male journalists say that Carol Moseley Braun brought nothing to these primaries. That is absolutely false. Ms. Braun brought calmness, reason, sunshine, brilliance, and a thorough knowledge of the issues. She made the guys look like a pack of bullies in the schoolyard. And, lest we forget, she also brought Patricia Ireland and the National Organization of Women. I�m thinking she consulted with her campaign manager before she decided to endorse Howard Dean and I�m also fairly certain Ms. Dowd knows that women are a hugely influential portion of the voting block. If it bothers them that Dr. Steinberg has not changed her name and won�t give up her career just yet, they aren�t showing it.

Dowd has exposed her true colors as a male-pleasing woman who would rather have our daughters emulating women who �sit in the front row and gaze up� at their husbands. How the mighty have fallen. I expected so much more from her.

Becky Burgwin�s writing has appeared in Newsweek, Time, New York Magazine, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Tribune Review.