Politics, Tough on Families in Real Life and on TV

While politics dominated the national news last week in the wake of the Massachusetts U.S. Senate race -- and now the victor's family is experiencing the tabloidish spotlight, even as the candidate's TV journalist spouse intentionally and purposefully sought to keep her distance from her husband's campaign with the exception of appearing with him on election night -- I devoted my Pop Culture and Politics column this week to TV dramas which are delving into the political arena and dramatizing the impact of running for office on a family with kids.

I looked at The Good Wife and how Julianna Margulies' character's family has been ravaged by the political enemies made by her incarcerated, unfaithful politician of a husband.

On Brothers & Sisters, Kitty Walker, former TV talking head and a new mom whose cancer recently went into remission, is thinking of running for either Congress or her husband's U.S. Senate seat, which he's just announced he's not running for again.

As for Big Love, polygamist Bill Henrickson -- who's got three wives and ties to a polygamist compound -- thinks he can hide two of his wives (and their six kids) until he wins a State Senate campaign. This week, he spent the whole episode running around Washington, D.C. trying to meet with a Utah congressman in order to secure his endorsement, getting blown off by a powerful lobbyist (whom he ticked off by assuming that she was a secretary) and then crashed a fundraiser in order to get a word in with the congressman. Then his second wife, who accompanied him on his D.C. trip, got briefly detained by authorities because she was carrying a gun in her purse. Oh, and his wife's daughter (not his) was still wearing distinctly out-of-place polygamist compound-wear. Yeah, politics are going to be a piece of cake for the Henrickson family.

Image credit: CBS.