My Husband Is Better Than Yours: Wives Advertise Softer Sides Of Their Spouses In Women’s Magazines

With less than 100 days to go before the people decide whether it will be president Obama again or whether Mitt Romney will pip him to the post, both candidates are not leaving any avenue of staying on people’s minds unexplored.

Both the wives, celebrities on their own accord, are talking to women’s and celebrity magazines advertising their husbands’ non-political sides.

Ellen Levine, editorial director at Hearst Magazines said, “Election time, they really want coverage.” She said that women magazines generally do not cater to political topics and hence are a safe place to air views without fear of being misquoted or their views twisted for political gains.

In the forthcoming issue of Good Housekeeping, Michelle Obama discloses that both she and the president exercise together every morning and that inspite of his hectic schedules he finds time to coach his daughter Sasha’s basketball team.

Rosemary Ellis, editor in chief of Good Housekeeping, who has covered both Michelle Obama and Ann Romney for her magazine, said that both were more than willing to talk to the magazine. “They know it’s not a puffball story. But they know I don’t have an ax to grind,” she said.

Woman’s Day, featured a multi-paged “Family Scrapbooks” spread in their October issue that carried pictures of both the women when they were kids, their wedding photographs, with their children and grandchildren.

Ann Romney reminisces about the time she dated Mitt Romney when he was working as a night time security personnel at the Chrysler Corporation. She mentioned, what must have delighted a million hearts, that he hasn’t lost his romantic touch and still writes love notes and never forgets the mandatory lilac bouquet on Mother’s Day.

The readers are treated to such delightful nuggets that Michelle Obama liked “Mac ’n’ Cheese” when she was a kid and Ann simply loves it when her grandchildren takes riding lessons. You also get to know that Mrs. Romney’s favorite film is “The Sound of Music” while Mrs. Obama opted for “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Even though political affiliations are hardly discussed, the interviews attract a large viewership and then invariably accusations of partisanship follow. Both camps will allege that the magazine was more sympathetic to the other.

Larry Hackett, editor in chief of People, which has been featuring both the candidates regularly, said that the impact of the interviews in the women’s magazines should not be underestimated and they are followed very closely.

“While it may not be what husbands talk about, there should be no illusion that they’re less protected and less disciplined than their husbands,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for them to show a side of them that helps people make up their minds.”

Even though the women’s magazines do not ask their readers to poll who is likely to win, but in the celebrated Family Circle cookie baking contest, the magazine asked both the Michelle Obama and Ann Romney to submit their recipes and then asked readers to bake the recipes.

Michelle’s white and dark chocolate chip cookies narrowly beat Ann’s M&M’s cookies, which suggest that the race ahead is tight.

With the elections round the corner, both the feisty ladies, behind their seemingly calm composed demeanor are adopting an aggressive approach. Ann Romney is scheduled to appear as guest-host for Good Morning America, filling in for anchor Robin Roberts, whilst the first lady is also in negotiations to co-host Good Morning America.

These are tough times and the toughest will survive. As Ann chided the press and asked them to stop being hard on her husband, “Stop it. This is hard. You want to try it? Get in the ring . . This is hard. . .”