Political spouses have unsung power; any cause should call on them.
principle — attributed to Anita McBride
McBride's structural observation about Washington is that political spouses have unsung power, and any organization needing support would be wise to call on them. The principle extends beyond the White House. The spouse of any head of any organization (corporate, philanthropic, civic) is an important resource that most advocacy campaigns ignore. The omission is structural. Most advocacy campaigns target only the formal officeholder. The spouse often has more flexibility, more time, and a parallel network the principal does not access. Campaigns that include the spouse as a strategic audience reach influence the principal-only campaign cannot.
For advocacy leaders, nonprofit executives, and government affairs professionals thinking about who to engage on a specific issue. The principle is most useful as a corrective when the campaign has defaulted to officeholders only.
political-spouses, unsung-power, advocacy-resource, underutilized