www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/article1112189.ece Florida's Senate race is about four men elbowing each other in a fierce bid to join the most powerful legislative branch in the United States.
But behind the candidates' nasty accusations are four spouses with mirror ambitions. They are their husbands' ultimate political accessories, the lapel flag in human form: slim legs, coiffed hair, dazzling smiles, a walking thesaurus of their spouses' winning attributes.
Carole Crist. Mei Greene. Leslie Meek. Jeanette Dousdebes-Rubio.
One of these women will go to D.C. with her husband after he is elected in November. She will be invited to lunches with Michelle Obama, Bible studies and book clubs organized by Senate spouses and elaborate dinner parties where she will be expected to look chic and be charming as lobbyists, world leaders and industry giants line up to shake her husband's hand.
"Life is going to change. There is no question about it," said Connie Schultz, author of the book . . . and His Lovely Wife: A Memoir from the Woman Beside the Man and wife of Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown. "Your husband, if he gets elected, is one of the more powerful people in the country. That comes with a lot of responsibility. No matter what you do for a living, in many circles you will simply be his wife."
It is not an entirely foreign concept for the spouses of Florida's Senate candidates, women long accustomed to seeing the names of their influential husbands in headlines.
"This is a family effort and it has always been a family effort," said Leslie Meek, who took a sabbatical from her job to champion Kendrick Meek's candidacy. "I'm there to support my husband."
Leslie Meek
In some ways, Leslie Meek, 45, is most poised to sashay into the role of Senate wife.
After her husband was elected in 2002 to succeed his mother in the U.S. House of Representatives, Leslie enrolled her two children in Washington schools and secured a job as an administrative judge over benefit entitlement hearings for the District of Columbia's Department of Employment Services.
Only after she beat out a handful of women to become chair of the Congressional Black Caucus' spouses group did her husband run for the same title within the main organization.
Ayah Wilson, who was hired by Leslie to serve as program coordinator for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, said she was "a hard person to work for." "She is a mom, she is a judge, she is a chair of the spouses, and she needs to know her team could run a well-oiled machine.
"She doesn't beat around the bush," Wilson said. "She'll tell you, 'Girl, you need to get that spinach out of your teeth, we have a meeting.' "
Born in Brooklyn and raised in Chicago and New York, Leslie attended historically black Fisk University in Nashville before eventually relocating to Florida to grow her legal career. She became an assistant attorney in Miami under Janet Reno. There, she met Kendrick Meek, a state trooper.
The pair was named the top power couple by Washington Life magazine this year, trumping Attorney General Eric Holder and his wife, obstetrician Sharon Malone, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his wife, former labor secretary Elaine Chao.
Like her husband, Leslie has a campaign platform. As a Senate wife, she plans to launch a national effort to help returning troops transition into civilian life.
"Maybe there are more resources over there," she mused. "Maybe people give you more deference because you are a senator's wife."
Posted By: Kendrick Meek
Saturday, July 31st 2010 at 12:43PM
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