| I know a few people were really keen on Gretchen Whitmer being the Democratic standard bearer in 2014, and were shocked when the other day she announced her plans to forego the governor's race. And, she said it was a family thing, and everyone was all, like, "Uhhh, sure." Nonetheless, many a politician has tearfully resigned in disgrace with the flimsy excuse that they are doing so to spend time with their families. So when Whitmer cites her kids, many hard-boiled political observers assume it's just another excuse. Everyone knows politicians don't possess human emotions or genuine bonds. But this is really a case of Occam's razor. The simplest solution is the correct one. If you look back at what Whitmer said back in December when I asked her about challenging Snyder, it was all about her daughters.
It's worth pointing out that when Andy Coulouris left the House a few years ago, ostensibly to spend more time with his family, he was lauded in the press for putting his kids first. So, why the different treatment? I'm not saying that it's a gender thing. It could be that Coulouris was just a state representative and Whitmer has positioned herself to be a party leader, and expectations are different. From a personal standpoint, I don't know the first thing about whatever custody arrangement Whitmer has with her first husband, and I don't want to know. It's no one's business, frankly. What I can tell you is that when you split custody with a child's other parent, there is a tendency -- at least for me -- to be very protective of the time you get to spend together. It does not strike me as unreasonable to think that she sees whatever time she gets to spend with her daughters as sacred, and not something interfered with lightly. |
