The days when women in political marriages stood stoically by their man have given way to a new paradigm of the wife as validator, a cover for her husband. The new twist on an old story is playing out in two very different locales: the governor’s mansion in Virginia and the mayor’s race in New York. Maureen McDonnell, wife of Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, and Huma Abedin, wife of mayoral candidate and former Democratic congressman Anthony Weiner are both emerging as central players in their husbands’ unfolding electoral dramas.