I know, I know, we’re voting for our next president and not First Lady, but we do get a package deal regardless of whom we cast our votes for in November.
Let me state something else; I generally don’t like to compare women and their styles because I think that’s unfair. We, each of us, have a right to “be who we are” unencumbered. So why even go there?
I still believe that Hillary is the best hope and chance for this country going forward. Since the DNC’s selection of Barack Obama has made that almost impossible (we still have Denver!) and caused such a splintering of the party, I will be among the many that votes for McCain, not out of anger, but out of the conviction that an Obama presidency would be disastrous for America. Ergo, it was time to look at Cindy more closely.
I’ve recently seen stories on Cindy McCain that have altered my initial impressions about her. These impressions weren’t necessarily negative, but I didn’t necessarily warm to (what I perceived as) her cool exterior.
Whereas Michelle has engendered hostility in some corners because of her comments about “only recently being proud of her country”, the flip side with Cindy was a kind of aloofness that left me vaguely dissatisfied.
Come on now, she wears a size one or two (meow); whereas the the average woman in America wears size fourteen! Then there were that the pictures in Vogue where barely a hair was out of place . . . just a little too perfect (meow) for my tastes.
The media has slowly begun to show us another side of Cindy McCain and its a far different picture of the woman originally presented. There’s another possibility, and that is I wasn’t really interested in knowing more. That having been said, here’s the Cindy I am warming to; she apparently grew up rich, beautiful, and privileged. So did Jackie Kennedy. No points taken off here.
There is some controversy about how she and John became husband and wife, as her detractors would like to bludgeon her with. Personally, I don’t think their personal life is anyone’s business any more than I thought Bill Clinton’s indiscretions were, or Newt Gingrich’s, or a host of politicians on both sides of the aisle.
She also had a drug related problem more than 15 years ago, related to pain killers which she has admitted and talks about candidly. To those who would try to use that as a weapon against her (John) might I remind you that Betty Ford also had a drug problem and that’s why there’s a Betty Ford Treatment Center.
Here’s what counts in my book. She and John have 4 children, one which was adopted with cleft palate 15 years ago. This in turn led Cindy into charity work that with Operation Smile. See
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_L33q73UDs&feature=related]
Her charity work includes working to rid the world of land mines. See
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMCHC3LA9Y8&feature=related]
Here’s what really counts with me. Cindy could have chosen to stay at home and go the Town and Country route, instead she chose to get her hands dirty, pitch in and make a difference long before her husband was a candidate for president. I respect that, and I suspect millions of other people will respect that as well. There’s a bonus as well, she a genuine NASCAR fan! Junior is her favorite driver.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9vkBC83kMc]
And if all that weren’t enough she learned how to drive race cars and fly a plane (as a way of conquering her fears) after 40!! That makes her OK in my book. So Cindy, I’ve got one thing to say to you, ” you go girl, you go girl, you go girl!”
Dear FakeMichelle:
I took a quick look at your blog, so I know you are an Obama supporter. It would be real easy for me to post a pointed quip or remark, but I won’t do that. Your comment appears to come from the heart although part of it is misguided as it relates to me.
First, I am not anti Obama, anti Michelle, or anti black. You have no idea how far off the mark you are here!
The reasons for my supporting McCain are lengthly and if you read this blog on a regular basis, you’d know I don’t care about Obama’s race or the cut of his suit, and any other immaterial factor that surrounds the man and his campaign.
I care about his politics and I don’t like them. I don’t like the way he “won” his first election in Chicago against Alice Parker, I don’t the way he “won” the the Democratic Party’s nomination, I don’t like the way he allowed the media to treat Hillary (and now he asks the media to back off Michelle), I don’t like the fact that he voted “present” 130 times or that he was chairman of a sub-committee on Bush’s war and Afghanistan and didn’t hold a single hearing, and I don’t believe his lack of experience is a plus.
Do I need to further? OK, I don’t like his vote on FISA and neither should you, I don’t like his sudden change on abortion, or his sudden desire to support “faith based initiatives” and charities in the public square. I hated it when Bush first brought it up and my feelings haven’t changed. It’s a lousy idea.
My support of McCain is based on principle. I don’t like all of his positions, but I know whatever he does it will be because he believes it is best for the country AND NOT NECESSARILY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!
If the DNC had any common sense, which they don’t, Hillary would be been nominated and Barack would have made a fine VP. That combination would have insured that the White House remained in Democratic hands for the next 16 years.
As it is, get used to saying President McCain because former Democrats (like me) and former Obama supporters, and independents will determine this election and we’re not voting for Barack.
BTW, I wish Obama was the man of his many fine speeches; sadly, he isn’t.
Are you sure you are FOR Hillary? Seems to me you are likely anti-Barack Obama, anti-Michelle Obama and perhaps even anti-black person. Hillary stood for a range of principles that McCain can never live up to. If you are really FOR Hillary why would you abanodon your leader at this critical time when she is asking you and pleading with you to support Barack? Were you only FOR her when syou didn’t have to choose between being against Barack and Michelle? As President Hillary would have had to make some tough choices, some you did not like, maybe even ask Barack to be VP…would you have abandoned her then? If you love Hillary and love this country and want to see things better there is no way you could bring yourself to vote for McCain, he goes against everything Hillary stands for.
As I appreciated your pleasant comment on my blog at startthinkingright, and as I really knew little about Cindy McCain, I popped over to your link.
Interesting stuff about her.
People need to consider the first spouse (can’t just automatically say ‘first lady’ anymore, can we?) and the influence this person has over the president.
In the case of Michelle Obama, I shudder…
“For those who wish to stay together in a long term commitment to the ideals and principles that Hillary Clinton has spent a lifetime promoting, http://Together4Us.com offers access for activists, funders, students, policy-makers and ordinary people to come together in support of each other and their goals for America. Please come to our website and join, use the code below to put our linked logo on your website and distribute our message and this code to all your network. Spread the word. We will be happy to put up a reciprocal link, your own co-branded web page on our site, or your own blog. Thanks so much, Gretchen Glasscock, Together4Us”
“For those who wish to stay together in a long term commitment to the ideals
and principles that Hillary Clinton has spent a lifetime promoting,
http://Together4Us.com offers access for activists, funders, students,
policy-makers and ordinary people to come together in support of each other
and their goals for America. Please come to our website and join, use the
code below to put our linked logo on your website and distribute our message
and this code to all your network. Spread the word. We will be happy to put
up a reciprocal link, your own co-branded web page on our site, or your own
blog. Thanks so much, Gretchen Glasscock, Together4Us”