The question of marital dynamics isn’t something that presidential candidates are usually asked to explain, but it was the one that Michele Bachmann was faced with at the Republican primary debate in Ames, Iowa, yesterday.
The crowd was distinctly unimpressed as the debate host, Byron York, called Bachmann out on an anecdote in this Washington Post profile. He asked:
In 2006, when you were running for Congress, you described a moment in your life when your husband said you should study for a degree in tax law. You said you hated the idea, and then you explained: “But the Lord said, be submissive. Wives, you are to be submissive to your husband.” As president, would you be submissive to your husband?
Bachmann batted the question aside:
What submission means to us, if that’s what your question is, it means respect. I respect my husband, he’s a wonderful, Godly man and a great father. And he respects me as his wife. That’s how we operate our marriage. We respect each other, we love each other.