Cindy McCain: It's not about the wives

by Mark Silva

It's not about us, Cindy McCain says of she, Michelle Obama and the presidential campaign of their husbands.

It's not?

Then why have the campaigns of the presumptive nominees for president, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, made the two potential first ladies so accessible to the media in this campaign? Why has Michelle Obama gone on The View and explained that she doesn't wear stockings? Why has Cindy McCain had to explain that she considers Michelle Obama a good mother, and patriotic, as she did today? And why has Cindy McCain gone to Vietnam? (It's for Operation Smile, and oh, CNN is there, too.)

They are part and parcel of the public persona that the candidates for president acquire along the road to the White House. Just as Teresa Kerry, prone to saying the darnedest things, became part of John Kerry's persona, just as Laura Bush, the librarian, figured in George W. Bush's promise to restore "honor and dignity'' to a sullied White House.

"Where is the line, in your view?'' CNN's John King asked Cindy McCain, in an interview during her travels in Vietnam aired on CNN's Late Edition today. "What's in and what's out? As you know there's been a debate about the spouses. Things that you have said and done, things that Mrs. Obama has said and done. Where is the line in your view?''

"I do not think that spouses and family members, I'll broaden it out, are fair game,'' McCain said. "And I'm not saying that because of either treatment on either side. I just think in politics, there has to be some decorum left in politics and in American journalism as well. And our husbands are the candidates.

"And what we are looking at are two vastly different sides of issues, two vastly different approaches to how we govern our country,'' said the candidate's wife - very much on cue with the message that Bush was delivering to his party's leaders at a fundraiser in Washington last night, a coordinated campaign cue. "People have a very clear choice. The choice is not whether - who is going to be the best first lady or the first - this is about our husbands and this is far too important to muddle it up with things like that.''

Cindy McCain has drawn some lines indeed, declining to release her tax returns, for instance.

"I felt that if it was important to the American people and there was discussion about it, OK I will,'' McCain told CNN's King. "I mean, sure I said no. But the American people said, you know, we really are - we really think we should see. And I said OK. I don't have to - I'm not always right.''

Cindy McCain also has spoken out King asked about how McCain had spoken about being proud of her country, after Obama spoke out about this campaign making her proud. Had she seen a political opening?

"No, it wasn't a political opening,'' she said. "There was nothing planned.''

"I'm an emotional woman when it comes to service to our country,'' she said. "I watched many people's children leave and go serve. This is something that is the fiber of the McCain family. It was nothing more than me just saying, look, I believe in this country so strongly. That's all it was. It was an emotional - an emotional - an emotional outpouring on my part.''

So she wasn't trying to suggest that Obama's wife is unpatriotic?

"No. No. No. No,'' she said. "That is not how I meant it and that is not, I believe, how it was represented. I think she's a fine woman. She's a good mother. And, you know, we both are in an interesting line of work right now.''

Here, courtesy of CNN, is a transcript of the interview:

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: First I'd like to say thank you for taking the time during this trip.

CINDY MCCAIN, WIFE OF JOHN MCCAIN: Thank you for looking at Operation Smile. I appreciate it.

KING: I watched you when you got out of the car and you arrive events all of the time. Some of them are events that you just have to do, some of the events you like, but your eyes lit up.
MCCAIN: Yeah.
KING: You've been involved in this a long time. This is not a first time shot being here. Why did you get involved and what does it mean to you?
MCCAIN: Well, as you know, we have a daughter that has a cleft palate and that's what brought me to Operation Smile. Of course I had heard about Operation Smile having done non profit work myself and had my own medical team, I had always heard about them. And I'd never met them but everywhere I'd been they'd been and so once I brought my daughter home I obviously became very interested in what they did and the importance of it and sought them out on my own and as a result I am now on the board and I love coming to things like this.
I don't like not being able to work harder because for me it's frustrating to not spend enough time but that comes with the territory now. I'd much rather spend two weeks working.
KING: You're also on this trip going on to Thailand to look at the World Food Program operation ...
MCCAIN: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
KING: And the whole relief effort for Myanmar or many people would say Burma. You know the controversy.
MCCAIN: Yeah.
KING: Is the regime letting the aid in fast enough.
MCCAIN: Mm-hmm.
KING: What's your sense of the situation now? Obviously it was deplorable at the beginning. What's your sense of the situation now and is there a need for people like yourself involved in American politics, in the White House and anyone else to put more pressure?
MCCAIN: Yes. I think it's still deplorable. As you know, a lot of the aid, I don't know if most of it, but a lot of the aid ended up in the hands of the junta. These people and of course there are reports coming out, oh, there is no disease, there is none of this. I have been in too many situations like this to not know that cholera is a problem, that there are refugees on the border, that all the food is not going where it's supposed to go and the aid. These people are dying. Absolutely they're scared. There should be more people, not just me but other people to stand up outraged from it. It's abominable that they would do this.
KING: Is this stop here for Operation Smile going on to talk about the relief efforts to criticize the regime? Is this a snapshot of what Cindy McCain would do as first lady? If your husband is fortunate enough to win the election? Sort of how you would view that job for you?
MCCAIN: I wouldn't change anything I do. Days like today revive me. I've been doing this for 28 years and it's important to me because my parents always taught me we have a very good life, now it's time to give back so I think I gained more from this than anybody else that I helped but yeah this is a snapshot of what you see and more and hopefully I'll be able to encourage people - you don't have to leave the country to do it. You can go to the corner, you can go to the neighborhood community center or you can go wherever but once again let's everybody get involved.
KING: These are international efforts, Operation Smile, the World Food Program. Is there anything at home you would take on as a priority? If you look at recent history, Hillary Clinton of course was very involved in politics and in policy. She had health care. Laura Bush has stepped out of the day to day policy fights but she's been involved in literacy and women's heart health which is a top priority for her. What would Cindy McCain do at home?
MCCAIN: I have a number one issue that's personal. I had a stroke. So certainly women's health is extremely important but also the adoption process is a big part of what I - we've been in the adoption process and have encountered. So adoption. There is a lot of issues that revive me and vitalize me and I think it needs a source of interest and of course he'd (ph) like (ph) me to be able to bring interest to them.
Certainly the children of the veterans that have been wounded or have died as a result is a huge part of our society that needs to be care for in a non-profit way.
KING: Let's talk about the role of the spouses in the campaigns. Let me start with the threshold question. Where is the line in your view? What's in and what's out? As you know there's been a debate about the spouses.
Things that you have said and done, things that Mrs. Obama has said and done. Where is the line in your view?
MCCAIN: I do not think that spouses and family members, I'll broaden it out, are fair game. And I'm not saying that because of either treatment on either side. I just think in politics, there has to be some decorum left in politics and in American journalism as well. And our husbands are the candidates. And what we are looking at are two vastly different sides of issues, two vastly different approaches to how we govern our country.
People have a very clear choice. The choice is not whether - who is going to be the best first lady or the first - this is about our husbands and this is far too important to muddle it up with things like that.
KING: And yet under steady pressure from the Democrats, your husband had said adamantly for a long time your financial life was separate from his, you wouldn't release your taxes. And you were forced under political pressure to release the summary. Did you not like that?
MCCAIN: It wasn't the Democrats that forced it. I felt that if it was that important to the American people and there was discussion about it, OK I will. I mean, sure I said no. But the American people said, you know, we really are - we really think we should see. And I said OK. I don't have to - I'm not always right.
KING: And now the Democrats are raising a stink about your husband's use of your family jet at a time his campaign was short on money. Is that a relevant question or is that silly season?
MCCAIN: It's a relevant question. The rules are very clear, actually.
And if you notice today, there was a discussion from three or four different attorneys backing up our discussion and our understanding of the law. It's, you know, we'll see. We'll see where this takes us. But our understanding and from what our attorneys have said, the law was clear and our use of it was very appropriate.
KING: You say spouses should not be the issue. The candidates are the ones who would be president. You did step forward at one point in the campaign when Mrs. Obama had said for the first time that she's proud of her country, you did step forward and said I've always been proud of my country. You saw a reason to say that, didn't you, some political opening?
MCCAIN: No, it wasn't a political opening. No, there was nothing planned. I'm an emotional woman when it comes to service to our country.
I watched many people's children leave and go serve. This is something that is the fiber of the McCain family. It was nothing more than me just saying, look, I believe in this country so strongly. That's all it was.
It was an emotional - an emotional - an emotional outpouring on my part.
KING: It was taken as you know as somehow as a comment on your part that was trying to say you are more patriotic or your family is more patriotic.
MCCAIN: No. No. No. No. That is not how I meant it and that is not, I believe, how it was represented. I think she's a fine woman. She's a good mother. And, you know, we both are in an interesting line of work right now.
KING: You mentioned your emotion about this. There is one issue in the family where you and your husband do disagree sometimes ...
MCCAIN: Only one?
KING: Well, you can list them all if you like. But you are very proud and effusive sometimes about your son's service now. One of whom is recently back from Iraq, another who is at the Naval Academy, you mentioned. The senator, perhaps because of his own service, perhaps because he was a POW, doesn't like to talk about that publicly. When you do, is that something that makes him mad?
MCCAIN: No, not at all. No. We don't talk about our son, specifically our Marine Corps son for obvious reasons. Particularly at the time when he was deployed. I am just like every other mother out there. If you want to listen, I'll tell you all about him. I'm very proud of him but there is a time and a place and every mother is proud of their sons and every child that is either serving or not serving or trying to live a decent life, going to school and doing things to make their own family proud and living a good life. I mean, we're all proud of that.
So I'm not different from any other mom. I'm proud of all four of my children.
KING: I'm going to ask you a little bit about where we are but you said that you think spouses have been out of bounds but you've been involved in discussion about your taxes, about the plane, about what you said about Mrs. Obama.
Is this new to you, troubling to you, or is this just part of the sorting out of every campaign?
MCCAIN: Oh, I tell you, I've seen it different from 2000. I've seen it different in terms of how the media approaches everything. But listen, this race isn't about media, it's not about two men that have clear differences in what's their vision for America and who will be a better leader and of course in my opinion my husband would be a better leader.
A better person on the job, he has more experience. He has the kind of life story that enables someone to look at an issue and really make a hard judgment because you've lived a certain way and lived a life that has given him a compass that takes him the right direction. He's a wonderful man and I'd be so proud if we were so lucky to be able to do this because he's just a remarkable person.
KING: Does it get under your skin when you see the press release? Why won't McCain release his taxes? Why does he fly on her plane?
MCCAIN: To be honest, I really don't read it. Staff keeps me up on this stuff but I'm with my kids, my family, I'm busy running from here to there, I'm busy doing things I like to do and they'll let me know something's going on but I don't really pay attention to this.
KING: Where do you see the legacy of Vietnam and how your husband conducts himself now?
MCCAIN: The legacy I think is a legacy in all of the men that were there, not only the ones who were held captive but the ones that didn't come home and it's a lesson we never forget.
And it's a lesson in understanding what it means to send young men and women into combat, but more importantly, how to bring them home in honor and in victory and I think that's what we learned and the legacy from that chapter.
KING: I have to ask in closing. You clearly love doing what you're doing here.
MCCAIN: I love it. I love it.
KING: Is there almost a bittersweet sense of knowing that when you go back home from a trip like this you're going to be in the final stretch, the lead-up to the convention and the rush to the general election? Would you rather be doing this than that?
MCCAIN: Well, yeah, I love this. The campaigning is fun but as I said earlier but this is - many things move people in many ways but this kind of work all over the world, be it here, be it Halo (ph), be it wherever I wind up is an important part of who I am and what makes, kind of what makes me tick.
And I hope that if people looked at me and see me do this, that they know that it's about the kind of person that I am and that I am no different here than any other place. It's just part of my heart.
KING: And so the sentence would be finished, Cindy McCain, if allowed the privilege to be first lady, would ...
MCCAIN: Do her best to never dishonor the office and more importantly do her best to inspire others to do good things and serve their country.