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Paula Broadwell Reportedly Had Political Aspirations Before Petraeus Scandal
By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 18, 2012
Modified Nov 18, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 18, 2012
Modified Nov 18, 2012
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The past week and a half haven't been so kind to Paula Broadwell, the biographer who had an affair with former CIA director and four-star general David Petraeus. Jon Stewart was flabbergasted by the scope of the scandal, while other other woman Jill Kelley called her a "stalker," Stephen Colbert mocked the "love pentagon," and SNL devoted its cold open to making fun of her book. This scandal may have also ruined any chance she had at a political career, something which she was reportedly eyeing. Then again, at least her scandal happened when she wasn't in office—that puts her above many of her would-be colleagues.
The Post's source says that while the affair was still going strong last spring, Broadwell "was looking at how to build an overall brand, how to take advantage of her time in the national media spotlight while promoting her book and leverage it into a production company or becoming a regular contributor on TV." Broadwell claimed she "was considering potentially running for office, and many people had come to her about that. She said she had gotten requests from both parties to consider running for office."
“She was also looking for opportunities to brand herself as a fitness expert on television and to appear in women’s magazines," the source continued. “Nobody knew, but what was interesting was that while she was conducting an affair with Petraeus, she was sounding out agents and brand managers with a political background.”
Of course, it's hard to tell how serious her political ambitions are, considering this is all coming from an anonymous NY Post Page 6 source. But it rings true with the way Broadwell has been painted in the media—she's been described as effervescent and an ambitious ladder climber, two traits which obviously lend themselves to political careers. And she certainly is good at turning lemons into lemonade: after Broadwell was asked to leave the doctoral program at Harvard because her coursework did not meet the university’s standards, she turned her dissertation into her book on Petraeus.
Tagged
affair
david petraeus
general david petraeus
jill kelley
paula broadwell
petraeus
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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