Newshoggers Comments
ohmygod, puh-leeze. I have no idea whether Jeri Thompson's youth and beauty will help or hurt her husband's campaign (and I don't much care, because I don't think he has a snowball's chance in hell anyway), but it's ludicrous for people to get all bent out of shape that you called her a trophy wife. Yes, it's a derogatory term, and maybe you would not have used had you known that, but that's not the point, to me at least. Jeri Thompson is a trophy wife. The term "trophy wife" has a meaning. And Jeri Thompson fits that meaning.
I intended to bold only "is a trophy wife," but neglected to put in the closing tag. Sorry about that.
As some commenter somewhere so inelegantly put it, Fred will never get the old crone vote that way. Neither will he get the vote of any woman who has ever been dumped for a younger model. It's not an insignificant demographic.
I'd say any woman old enough to have anxiety about being dumped for an older model will go anti-Fred, though perhaps that's what you mean by "the old crone vote."
How about the basic-lack-of-sense-and-dignity issue? In photos at public events, such as a WH Correspondents' dinner in 2006, she appears to be scantily clad. Seems pretty crass. Some people like crass, but others cringe.
Anyway, if it's true that she's several years younger than Thompson's daughter, there's no getting around that -- it will have a negative impact, whether or not the match was made in heaven or Rodeo Drive.
Kathy, I never expected such a big response to what I thought was just an idle musing on the political implications of their appearance. I simply think they're a visually jarring couple. As a practical matter, I wouldn't vote for Fred if he was happily married to his first wife for 50 years and I don't give a flying leap about Jeri.
I do however very much care about civility and I only did this follow-up to clarify that I didn't mean to imply she was a gold digging bimbo which is apparently how trophy wife is defined in the dictionary. She clearly isn't and had I realized that the term carries that particular connotation, I wouldn't have used it.
Jim - thanks for the link and the sane thoughts on this subject at your place. You seem to be one of the few people that understood my point in the first place.
I'm not sure what the commenter meant by old crone, but I used it in the traditional sense to describe women like myself who are well past 50 and pretty much out of the dating pool.
I think you're right though that the younger demographic isn't confined to only those women who have already been dumped.
"Women, on the other hand had a largely negative reaction"
A rorschach issue of their ever was one. I'll add my data free analysis to what is already floating here
Most, though hardly all, of the boomer female rage being directed at Jeri and Fred Thompson probably is *primarily* because she is young, beautiful and with a man old enough to be her father.
The couple being conservative Republicans rather than liberal Democrats adds to the dynamic and I wager those women who are most upset are least likely to vote for the GOP to start with. The visceral reaction would still be there in the latter case but it would be more muted to the sullen grumbling level.
Do men react positively to Mrs. Thompson mostly because of her looks? Certainly that's the case. And while we might agree that Thompson looks like his wife's grandpa we also mentally say " good for him" for pulling that off. A factor that won't hurt much among GOP primary voters. Or among the second wife demographic irritated by their husband's exes.
smintheus - I don't think the age difference is really the big factor by itself but I agree that her personal style is what makes the age difference so much more apparent and that I think that hurts him.
Zen - LOL. It did occur to me that he would have a lock on the "trophy wife" vote, but I figured I caused enough trouble with this post already and thought I would just avoid that point.
I don't think "trophy wife" was the term you were looking for anyway. She's younger than his daughter and loves showing off her big ones. The term is "bimbo".
And frankly there's nothing "manly" to be impressed about these days with the
availability of Rush Limbaugh's best friend. the litte blue pill. Even Ol' Fred can perform some husbandly duties besides signing the checks.
I think most women would rather have a man like Bill Clinton who strays but always comes home instead of a man like Fred who used the mother of his children up and then dumped her once the kids were grown. Maybe that's family values were you come from, that's what we call a shitheel in Illinois.
I suspect that the nascent Thompson campaign would far rather that people think of Mrs. Thompson as a trophy wife than as an RNC apparatchik in message control during the '04 campaign (or the woman who acted out her insecurity by trashing Margaret Carlson as old and pathetic to the press).
"No matter how greatly our mores and values have changed, I don't think the average American is ready for a sexy First Lady."
Hmmmm... can you say "Jackie Kennedy," boys and girls?
I knew you could.
All I can say is that there is just something inherently icky about a grown man screwing someone four years younger than his daughter.
Mark - she's no bimbo which is why I offered the correction. She's a smart cookie but the pix you see of her in Hollywood make her come off as kind of trashy.
Julia - good point. I think you're right about that.
HH - no comparison between the two. For one thing there wasn't a huge age difference and Jackie was fashionable, not sexy. She was the first First Lady who didn't dress dowdy but she never flashed any tit.
Tequila - it's weird isn't it, because she's middleaged, it's not like he's robbing the cradle but there still is an ick factor.
Um, why isn't Fred Thompson condemning Joe Scarborough for insinuating his wife is a stripper? A Southern man’s dignity and his lady’s honor are at stake! Ol' Fred better stand up for his wife or face the wrath of a righteous, I say, I say, a righteous nation! Pistols at dawn is the only answer!
I am not sure why Libby thinks it will hurt Fred Thompson. I mean Clinton's cheating ways didn't hurt his women vote... why would how good Fred Thompson's wife looks matter here?
BTW, I don't know what all the fuss is over her anyway. Sure she is blonde, and I am sure that counts for something, but she is kinda thick too.
Basically repeating what I posted (too?) late at the earlier post.
One thing that stood out for me in your earlier text was:
"... the slightly lecherous look in his eyes."
That seemed to me that you were interpreting a photograph through your own very personal experiences and asserting what must have been in that man's mind at that moment. The interpretation you offered also happened to fit your theme.
One other point you might want to keep in mind concerns this statement of yours:
"... his beautiful young wife, who is actually four years younger than his real daughter."
This seems to me to be a tad insensitive, since "his real daughter" is dead:
"Thompson had been re-elected to the Senate in 1996 and briefly considered a presidential bid before the 2000 race. In 2002, however, devastated when his 38-year-old daughter, Elizabeth Panici, died of an accidental prescription-drug overdose, he decided not to run for another Senate term."
http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....pbcs....WS0206/
70530009
All in all, I suggest that your piece may not be one to be proud of.
Lots of projection and half ass assumptions going on here. Looking at you kathy and markg8.
That's fine for a Hollywood wife, but for a potential First Lady not so much. No matter how greatly our mores and values have changed, I don't think the average American is ready for a sexy First Lady.
Hahahaha...you just called Hillary fugly.
No no no...it's okay...I agree.
Were you this bitter and cold before your husband left you for a younger woman? I'm just sayin...
Posted comment: I think most women would rather have a man like Bill Clinton who strays but always comes home instead of a man like Fred who used the mother of his children up and then dumped her once the kids were grown.
Re: I thought he was home when he strayed or are you talking about the other times.
Regarding the age issue:
Hey don't fool yourselves. The old duffers with the good look'in women do get elected..... how about Christopher Dodd, better yet Dennis Kucinich and best of all Strom Thurmond. Strom at the age of 66 actually did marry a trophy - Miss South Carolina of 1965 in the year 1968 when she was 23 years of age. Strom left the Senate at the age of 100 and died shortly thereafter. So it appears the old duffers are electable. The old duffers referred to here are Democrats or at least started out as Democrats.
Can you just imagine the shoo-in it would be if Hillary would have dumped the bugger and found a young buck!
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