COMMENTARY | I never had to suspend a campaign or anything similar to Herman’s announcement that he is finally getting out of the race for the Republican nomination. But my heart goes out to his wife, who stood by knowing in her heart that most, if not all of what, she was being bombarded with were probably true. Truths she pondered in her heart and became “at peace” with one night with her tearful face buried in her favorite pillow that smells like Herman. Many expressed relief by the decision to step out of the race, but surely none more than his wife of over 40 years, who said “I love you” one day and meant it deeply. Could it be that she honestly loves him for who she has come to know as Herman at home?
Not the boisterous, demanding, egotistical Herman the monster he had to be in order to succeed in a world often cruel to black men, but the man she told her secrets to, she asked her dreams of and he gave them to her, the guy who gets really childlike quiet when he knows he has upset her. What she knew is what every woman/man knows about the men that they have come to love – he is not perfect and there are some things that really make me angry, but I love him anyway!
Right now many women are suggesting strongly that she follow the decisions of other women who have found themselves in front of the camera for reasons they rather not be subjected to. Only they know the reasons in their heart why they decided to just let him go! Maybe Gloria answered a question for herself that all women need to ask and answer: If I like and love this man for what he is, why would I fool myself into believing that no other woman would see what I see and want Herman too? Though it will make it better if he doesn’t take the bait, men like him are found to be very attractive to women’s emotions and not just their eyes. There’s something about being able to make things happen and not just talk about what could be, that turns a woman’s heart your way.
I believe it was Oprah Winfrey who said, “Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” The ride of the Hermanator has come to a stop and regardless of what his boyish games brought him, he is very fortunate to find Gloria still believing in his true self and will get on the bus for a moment.