It always seemed an unlikely pairing. Ted Olson, the conservative lawyer who defended President George W. Bush to decide the 2000 presidential election, now championing marriage equality in California’s Proposition 8 case, paired with David Boies, his opponent in Bush v. Gore. But Olson has another unlikely partner — his wife, Lady Booth Olson, also a lifelong Democrat.
The Olsons are not the only famous cross-party spouses, of course. Other notables include California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and journalist Maria Shriver (D), and political consultants Mary Matalin (R) and James Carville (D). The New York Times had an article about the Olson’s this week, however, in which Mr. Olson explains the great extent to which his wife influenced his views on the Proposition 8 case.
Mrs. Olson told the paper, “He would have never been able to take the other side. He wouldn’t have had a wife after that!” She doesn’t take full credit, however, noting that her husband’s “fierce libertarian streak” inclines him to view all discrimination as offensive and to see marriage equality as a matter “of right and wrong, justice and injustice.”
Still, as the New York Times explains it, Mrs. Olson, a lawyer herself, was a significant presence behind the scenes on the case. And by simply speaking with the paper, she is continuing to extend her influence. She agreed to the interview so that people could see her and her husband as “happy heterosexuals who are completely supporting this,” and support it as well.
