By Katharine Murphy
Some partners of politicians totally live the gig — and others would very happily live without it. So what will 2010 bring?
GOD I'm boring. It happened when I turned 40. I became one of those people who periodically lapses into rhapsodies about the good old days.
When I began as a reporter in Canberra more than a decade ago, I used to hide from such people, fearing they would disturb me from carefully composing the lead to the daily briefs column and regale me with stories about people with whom I had only glancing familiarity.
These days of course my younger colleagues hide from me. They pretend they are rearranging the files stowed under their desks, or inspecting the condition of their shoes, but I know the truth. They are anecdote avoiders. Sometimes they can't get the desk dive in soon enough, so they have to sit there and look interested. What they don't know quite yet is the talented bunch of youngsters I work with will be me before they know it.
I find these old-bugger storytelling binges get worse in the shadow of election campaigns, and this federal battle between Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott is now so close we can all smell it.
In recent days I've found myself remembering 1996, when my first serious assignment was to go to Tasmania and meet the then environmental activist Bob Brown. Brown tolerated my complete cluelessness with enormous grace.
Then there's the joys of 1998, when, pregnant with my daughter, I periodically needed to stop the media bus in order to vomit in the bushes.
By 2001 I was chatting down the back of the plane with John Howard and Kim Beazley - the last federal campaign where leaders travelled with reporters on the same aircraft.
That same campaign saw Beazley's wife Susie Annus deployed on regular duchessing duty with the travelling press pack, and much like Therese Rein she was a one-woman charm offensive. Remembering Susie's vivaciousness made me think of how Therese Rein must be feeling in Washington this week, deprived of her chance to bookend her husband in 2010. (And how strange it is for Therese and Susie to find themselves in the same city at such a moment, given all the history: Rudd after all executed Kim Beazley, and Annus did not take those events well. Would they form a support group? Hmm, probably not.)
So my buzzing mind has rested briefly on political spouses: the ones that live the gig and the ones that could easily live without it.
Recent political history has seen a bunch of activist spouses in their different ways. Rein and Annus were both born for the front-line role. Mark Latham's comely spouse Janine Lacy played a significant cameo in the 2004 campaign. In terms of the optics, Lacy's blonde, perfectly groomed, articulate presence softened the jagged edges of Latham's political character.
Janette Howard by contrast was disinclined to cultivate a public persona. She didn't much like journalists. She reflected the maxim of the Howard era that there was one boss and the spotlight needed to be all on him. But privately Mrs Howard was the petrol in the engine - powerful, influential, steadfast. Politics was the family business, it was the single, productive, long-term investment of their human capital.
What will 2010 bring? A complete change of pace. For the first time federally we have first dude, and not only first dude but first de facto dude.
I'm speaking of course of Tim Mathieson, Julia Gillard's partner. I know we are evolved, but are we evolved enough for the inaugural first bloke to be a complete non-issue in the next few weeks? I suspect not.
Word is Mathieson will not travel regularly, but will attend key campaign events. Mathieson has proved himself an early adaptor and enthusiast for his role, building a media profile, stepping out at key functions, so it will be interesting to see whether the early ''low profile'' guidance will hold true for the life of the contest.
Margie Abbott, wife of Tony, is the epitome of reluctant political spouse. She and her telegenic daughters are not expected to be constantly on the road with Abbott during the contest. Mrs Abbott has a job and a life - politics is her husband's occupation. That said, she is likely to be visible when it counts: the key functions that usually provide the iconic images of every election campaign. Will she be grimacing or smiling? Sometimes the difference in politics is a bit moot.
Katharine Murphy is national affairs correspondent.