On... Cindy McCain

I believe the article was meant to show the softer side of John McCain by sharing the trials and travails of his wife, Cindy. Was the article interesting? Sure. It shared information about her that most of us would never have known about. Does the article make John McCain more likable/electable to me? No. Like Alias2324, I question what this article has to do with John McCain's ability to run this country. I do not believe that we can translate his lack of presence in his wife's struggles as proof-positive that he would/would not make a good leader. (If anything he has shown that he puts his career first and isn't that what we want!!)

Mrs. McCain is described as knowing that her husband would "put country first" when she married him and does not resent him for that. I have always believed that when you marry or become seriously involved with someone in the military you have to expect that EVENTUALLY they will be called away, may be gone for a while and will be in harm's way. If your spouse/significant other is career-driven, you have to expect that pretty much everything they do is about their career. You have the opportunity from the beginning to decide if you can be in a relationship where you may end up spending a lot of time on your own. It is too bad that he was not there when she suffered the two miscarriages, but she was not alone. She was living not too far from her family so she had support. Will it make him seem uncaring to some people? Definitely. Does it mean he cannot lead? No.

What I find interesting is that she has had a pretty privileged life as a military wife. She has not had to move nearly as much as most military wives have had to. All she has had to do was cope with living in WASHINGTON (and I am sure in pretty nice quarters, not the base quarters that most military wives have to make due with). She did not like it so left to go back to Arizona. I wonder how many other military wives would LOOOOVE to be able to leave because they hate base life, but stick it out. That would be something to read about! The article states that Mrs. McCain "... quite persuasively" says she would be happy to move back to Washington if her husband were elected president. If she hated Washington before, does she really think she is going to like it any more now? Washington has not changed. I think she is smart enough to know that if she wants to see her husband elected, she has to watch things/statements like that because of the potential backlash to her husband's campaign. Of course, it should not matter to me (or any of us) whether or not Cindy McCain likes or dislikes Washington, DC because it has no real bearing on her husband's ability to lead, but stuff like this is what rules the news, political talk shows... and blogs.