Some Missourians are paying as much attention to the potential first lady as they are to the potential president. University of Missouri political communications researcher, Betty Winfield, said that attention is misplaced and voters shouldn’t care about candidates’ wives.
"In essence you’re really electing a president and you’re not electing a first lady. The person is a satellite, she goes along with the candidate," she said.
Winfield said the reason voters focus on the wives is because tradition dictated the first lady play the role of hostess when the United States was competing with European royal courts, but now that ideal has changed, creating a conflict.
"Both candidates’ wives in this particular election have more than one degree then what do you expect them to do?" Winfield asked. "I mean you’re expecting them to go back into a very traditional role when they didn’t play that role before."
She suggests voters look more closely at the candidates instead of scrutinizing their wives.
