Obama: Cupid or homewrecker?
One of the stories currently featured on Boston.com is this piece on the matchmaking power of the Obama campaign. According to Globe reporter Meredith Goldstein, Exhibit A of said power is the new union of Cass Sunstein and Samantha Power:
When President-elect Barack Obama becomes the real deal next week, try to picture him wearing a toga and holding a bow and arrow - something like the cherub above, but maybe without the red high heels (Obama would never wear such impractical shoes).
Obama is a cupid, of sorts. His election was about hope and all things positive. It's not surprising that many of his supporters wound up falling for more than just him.
One of the more high-profile Obama love stories is the marriage of Harvard professors Cass R. Sunstein and Samantha Power (yes, the one who called Hillary Clinton a monster). Both have been big names in the Obama campaign. The two politicos met while advocating for the president-to-be last winter. They were married by summer.
Of course, they can't say much about their love (or anything else) right now - they're neck deep in transition - but Sunstein did send me a quick e-mail about his Obamaffair. It said: "Flowers bloomed and birds sang in Iowa in January." Did they ever.
As with any new couple, I wish Sunstein and Power all the best. But I also think that Goldstein--given her choice of subject matter--should have found an artful way to mention that Sunstein's relationship with Power developed at the expense of his previous relationship*, to University of Chicago bigwig Martha Nussbaum.
I'm not hatin', and I'm not judgin' (Sunstein or Power, that is). I'm just sayin'.
P.S.--Generically writing that "Sometimes campaign lovers already have real spouses at home" doesn't cut it.
NOTE: I initially wrote that Sunstein and Nussbaum were married. Unfortunately, that's wrong--and so, it seems, was my assessment of the role Sunstein's relationship with Power played in Nussbaum and Sunstein's parting of ways. See this retraction for more details.