Angela Simaan: Don’t pity Huma

Around Washington, she needs only one name, kind of like Madonna: Huma.

A raven-haired, striking aide-de-camp to US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Huma Abedin has been by Mrs. Clinton’s side since her days as First Lady, rising steadily in the ranks from intern to “body woman” during Mrs. Clinton’s Senate terms and on the 2008 Presidential campaign trail (which was more like a Navy SEAL obstacle course), and now as a Senior Adviser to the State Department. Born in the US but raised in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia by her professorial Pakistani and Indian parents, she’s got the language skills and professional experience to rule any roost.

Lest we forget what’s important: she dresses with the best of them. An old roommate of mine who worked on the 2008 Clinton campaign would come home with breathless reports of Huma sightings and the requisite details -- heels, bag, suit, lipstick color.

Ah yes, this fabulous DC elite 30-something is also married to Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York, infamous for his loud mouth, wise cracks, and most recently, foolish Internet capers with a half-dozen women on Twitter and Facebook.

As Mr. Weiner stood on a stage Monday, conspicuously alone, you could almost hear the crowd’s collective murmuring amidst his teary confessions: “Poor Huma... she must be so embarrassed.. but where is she?” And again last night, as the New York Times broke news that she’s pregnant with the couple's first child, Washington’s Democratic establishment moved to cast a sympathetic gaze her way.

Huma, however, was on a plane bound for North Africa with the Secretary of State, and at work all week without fail, according to the New York Times. While her husband flapped around his indiscretions, she’s remained unflappably discrete, demonstrating, I think, the very reasons why she’s a Democratic darling and unquestionably a strong woman.

After all, Hillary Clinton -- the woman who perfected the power pant suit if she didn't invent it -- is her mentor, and though she’s one of the pack of political wives to weather a scandal, she’s also the only one to make it to a top position in the US government.

So don’t pity Huma. After creating her stunning wedding gown last year, designer Oscar de la Renta said, “It was like dressing Scheherazade, the beautiful queen from ‘One Thousand and One Nights.’”

The comparison is more apt than Mr. de la Renta may have known. Using her wits, Scheherazade came out on top at the end.

(Angela Simaan is a producer in the Washington bureau of AL Arabiya. She can be reached at: [email protected])