Who cares about her income??

So there's this story about Cindy McCain, John McCain's wife, and how she refuses to disclose her personal tax returns. And guess who is trying to make political gain from it? No, not Hillary, but the Dems in general. Howard Dean, the Democratic National Committee Chairman, has decided to target presidential hopeful John McCain for his wife's decision not to release her tax returns. There are a lot of reasons why it shouldn't matter and why I question whether Dean has a happy marriage (an exaggeration, i know):

• First, there's a prenuptual agreement in place between John McCain and his wife, meaning that what's hers isn't necessarily his.
• The real issue Dean should worry about isn't in regards to her tax return but the fact that Senator McCain only released two years of his returns. Apparently that's not enough. (The Clintons now have all of their returns from 1977 to the present on public record) Plus John Kerry had to deal with this same issue with his wife during the 2004 election, but the pressure was coming from the Republicans.
• What is there to hide? I mean, if there were improprieties where the McCains were benefiting from his position as a senator, wouldn't we be hearing about it by now? People are paid lots of money to look into the finances and history of the candidates in order to find anything illegal, so i'm sure it'll come out eventually if that's the case, regardless of the lack of her tax returns.
• Back to the whole marriage thing, doesn't Dean know that the man doesn't dominate the woman and tell her what to do? I mean seriously, they're individuals and have their own mind to make decisions. If Cindy McCain doesn't want to release her tax information--she's filed separately every year for the 28 years they've been married--she shouldn't have to, especially since the prenuptual agreement is in place. What makes the Clintons and Obamas different is that they filed jointly so there aren't the same kinds of issues there.
• And finally, there is no legal obligation for the candidates to share! So focus on the stuff that really matters!

If Dean is upset that Kerry got so much criticism in the 2004 campaign from the Republicans, then i understand. But does he really need to stoop and criticize Senator McCain for his wife's decision? Does Dean tell his wife what to do and when to do it? I'm very much in support of individuality of a husband and a wife. I do believe that typically it's good to share finances, but every marriage is different. They had a prenuptual agreement, which shows a level of financial autonomy. Emotionally they may be united, but financially they aren't.

You know, people make a big deal out of money. Often way too big of a deal. The reality of the situation is that the majority of politicians that run for a position like US Senator or President of the US are pretty well off already. To me, this whole mess is just splitting hairs. Neither party is innocent of this kind of nitpicking. Let's just focus on what's important, like how these candidates are going to improve our nation.