Why aren't we picking on Mrs. McCain?

One of the most common criticisms I hear about Hillary Clinton has nothing to do with her policies – it’s her husband. Even during the Democratic Presidential debate, the moderator asked how she would be able to “control” Bill if she was elected President. As the media and Republicans focus on her marriage instead of her campaign, I can’t help but think she is being singled out from all the other candidates.

Why aren’t we looking at our possible First Ladies as much as we do our potential First Man? The most obvious example is Cindy McCain. The former rodeo beauty queen and daughter of a wealthy Arizona is eighteen years younger than her husband. While John McCain was married to his first wife Carol, he had an affair with the younger, blonder woman who had millions in the bank. Within one month of his divorce, McCain married Cindy.

We picked on Bill Clinton for having an affair so I think it’s only fair with pick on John McCain for how he treated his first wife. McCain touts himself as a war hero but never mentions what his wife went through when he was in Vietnam. While he was a P.O.W., she was in a terrible car accident that left her permanently injured. According to the U.S. Veteran Dispatch, the accident left her four inches shorter and forced her to use crutches. Instead of reaching out for his support, she refused to tell her husband because she didn’t want him to hear bad news while he was a P.O.W. I can’t help but be amazed at the strength it must have taken to endure such tragedy – a crippling accident and a husband trapped across the globe in losing war.

Cindy, on the other hand, is a former drug addict who embezzled from a charity she ran. The Times reported on February 3rd how in the early nineties she was addicted to painkillers and stole pills from the American Voluntary Medical Team, a charity that send mobile medical facilities into war zones. When the federal government started investigating, a panicked Cindy called her Senator husband to make the charges disappear. And they did. In 1994, she went into rehab and the charges were dropped.

When Bill Clinton had an affair with Monica Lewinsky and lied about it, the country crucified him. When John McCain helped his drug addicted wife get out of trouble, no one said a word. Now that Hillary Clinton and John McCain are both running for President, why are we so obsessed with Bill Clinton and not Cindy McCain?

American politics would be a lot better place without swiftboating and mudslinging. But as long as we’re playing dirty, I say share the blame.


Cindy McCain and John McCain