Cindy Mccain on The Huffington Post

How Did Sarah Palin Spend $150,000?

2008-11-17T12:10:10Z

Sarah Palin's stylists sure had to work hard to drop $150,000 on dressing the former Republican V.P. candidate. Vanity Fair's fashion department took Sarah's budget and came up with a dream wardrobe that would fit the bill. (They threw in her husband Todd's $40,000 budget, too, just for good measure.) Even if Sarah was outfitted with a Valentino dress, an ostrich weekend bag and a croc handbag, a Patek Philippe watch, and an Hermès silk scarf, there would still be about $100,000 left over. And what about Todd's spending spree? That's equivalent to nearly six Ralph Lauren Purple Label suits. See, no matter how you slice it, it's not all that easy to spend that kind of cash!

National Enquirer : Cindy McCain Having Affair

2008-11-12T11:32:14Z

The National Enquirer has published a new political "world exclusive":

The ENQUIRER's exclusive bombshell expose as Sen. John McCain's wife, Cindy, is caught with another man!

Not only that but multiple witnesses have caught the pair lip locking on several other occasions.

"I couldn't believe I was watching Cindy McCain passionately kissing and hugging another man!"

That's the stunned reaction of an eyewitness who says he watched in shock - and snapped photos - as the former presidential candidate's wife romantically kissed a long-haired man who resembles "a washed-up '80s rock musician."

Sources told The ENQUIRER investigative team the pair have been seen at concerts and sporting events acting very lovey-dovey

The wealthy blonde heiress and her secret pal have been spotted together around her hometown of Phoenix, Arizona over the past several years, say sources.

The amazing spy photos were snapped when Cindy and her companion attended the Tempe Music Festival says the person who took them. The photos are somewhat grainy, but the insider says they depict Senator John McCain's wife, who was greeted by pals at the event as "Cindy."

A reader notes that this story is particularly dubious because Cindy McCain was on a trip to Kosovo at the time of the festival where the photos were supposedly taken.

One grainy photo accompanies the online article -- more are promised in the print edition. The National Enquirer was recently vindicated in its coverage of a different campaign scandal when John Edwards confessed to having an affair. During the election they pushed the story that Sarah Palin was having an affair with her husband's business partner. Those allegations have yet to be backed up by other sources, and neither have the tabloid's claims that Edwards had a love child with his mistress.

Mark Joseph: Did You Hear The One About Barack Obama And.....

2008-11-09T01:21:45Z

I love conspiracy theories because sometimes they turn out to be true. I mean, who could have imagined that John Edwards would be stupid enough to a) make it with his videographer while his wife was battling cancer and b) try to visit her and their child on the eve of the Democratic National Convention when he was being considered as a possible vice presidential nominee? What Hollywood screenwriter could have scripted the scenario that placed Ted Haggard, the President of the National Association of Evangelicals in a hotel room calling a guy for massages and sex?

OK, those aren't exactly conspiracies, but they're implausible rumors that turned out to be true.

So just to be on the safe side, I believe all conspiracy theories until they are proved wrong by legit media. But when it comes to Barack Obama and conspiracy theories, I'm running into a problem because there are so many out there that they conflict with one another and now I don't know which ones to believe.

My personal favorite is the one about Malcolm X Being Barack Obama's true father. There's even a morphing photo series to prove it. No, wait, a guy named Frank Marshall Davis is Barack's true father.

Or how about the one about Obama not having been born in Hawaii, but rather in Kenya?

Or the one about Obama's education having been funded by a mysterious Muslim leader?

Then there's the guy who swears that it was William Ayers who secretly authored Obama's books.

And do you want to know the real reason Obama visited his ailing Grandmother?

Some of 'em are just plain nuts, some are just very, very unlikely and some are, well, plausible. I don't blame the conspiracy theorists for this stuff-that's what they do. But I do blame the "responsible" media, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time, Newsweek et al. because their lack of critical reporting on Obama and his background and unwillingness to thoroughly investigate him has now produced a cottage industry of self-styled investigative internet journalists who often neither have the tools, resources or training to properly investigate.

We have elected as president a man we don't really know, because responsible outlets left investigative journalism, the kind of rigorous examination of a man in whose hands we place the nuclear codes that could blow up the world, to internet crackpots or people without the background or the temperament to investigate impartially.

Now, after the election, some reporters are stepping forward to admit that voters's interests were not served well by the reporting of this race. I find this exchange between Tom Brokaw and Charlie Rose, wherein they admit that they know little about the president-elect's views on a whole host of issues (as if they had not both had the opportunity to look into them on our behalf during the campaign) simply stunning. Then there's this from the Washington Post, conceding that Post readers were ill-served by the paper's campaign coverage.

That collective failure means that for the next four years we will have a cottage industry of Obama rumormongering that will make Bill Clinton and Vince Foster look like child's play and it could have been avoided if the "responsible" mainstream press had devoted some of the time it spent tracking down John McCain's one night stands from his Navy days or Cindy McCain's prescription drug habit, debunking or confirming rumors about Obama that will plague us for the next four years.

Magda Abu-Fadil: U.S. Election Fever Grips Arab Media

2008-11-04T14:34:09Z

This year's U.S. presidential election has garnered more Arab media attention than most analysts remember given the two main contenders' contrasting promises, backgrounds and races, with audiences' reactions varying from excitement to nonchalance depending on their respective countries.

"America Today Faces Historic Choice: Black or White," headlined Lebanon's key daily An-Nahar with a report on how Americans were to decide if this election merited all the adjectives and superlatives describing the longest and most expensive presidential race on record.

Lebanon's An-Nahar daily (Abu-Fadil)

"America Changes its Color," said Lebanon's Al Akhbar, while the pan-Arab daily Al Hayat's led with "America on the Verge of Historic Change Today."

The latter's Washington correspondent wrote of fears that violence may break out if Sen. Barack Obama loses, as occurred followed the assassination of Martin Luther King and that racism had revived Sen. John McCain's chances in America's rural heartland.

For Kuwait's Al Seyassah, it was "Super Tuesday: The U.S. Chooses and the World Waits."

For months, Obama's racial roots and the prospect of having the first African-American leader of the free world have fascinated Arab media. They've recounted blow-by-blow details of the campaign and uncovered the confusing side of the Electoral College that ultimately decides who becomes commander in chief.

"Elections with a New Color" is a graphic that has appeared on Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV that has reinforced its U.S. bureau with a team of anchors and reporters from headquarters.

Al Jazeera TV anchor in Washington (Abu-Fadil)

Besides the obvious coverage of campaign stops, rallies, interest in Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin's expensive wardrobe, limited general knowledge, purported abuse of power and gullibility for falling for a phone prankster pretending to be French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Al Jazeera has also zeroed in on issues like poverty and thriving bigotry in America.

The satellite channel, like Dubai-based rival Al Arabiya, has also followed the Arab-American community which seems to have veered more toward Obama than Republican rival John McCain despite a tradition of backing GOP candidates.

Both networks aired live reports of Barack and Michelle Obama casting their ballots in Illinois as their daughters hovered around the voting machines.

Al Arabiya airs live coverage of Obama voting (Abu-Fadil)

While pleased at the thought someone whose father was a Muslim may occupy the White House, and that his pronouncements on world affairs have been more conciliatory than his opponent's, Arabs appearing on TV have been equally dismayed by his initial foray into the Middle East's thorniest issue by declaring Jerusalem was Israel's undivided capital, before backing down.

"I don't think McCain, Obama or any other president will make a difference as long as there isn't a united Arab position and as long as Arabs don't manage to create and a run a lobby that is as effective as AIPAC," said Faisal Abbas, media editor of the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat.

Faisal Abbas of Asharq Al-Awsat

His paper has provided extensive coverage of the presidential race, with voluminous copy on the intricacies of battle, colorful graphics describing the voting process, a color-coded map on how each state votes, and a feature on the candidates' wives entitled "Next First Lady: Rich Blonde or Black Lawyer?"

The article focused on how Cindy McCain had raised eyebrows by not making her tax records public while Michele Obama had ruffled the feathers of those who doubted her patriotism.

"Lebanon Has Been Below Radar for U.S. Presidential Rivals," reported that country's English-language paper The Daily Star. It quoted a number of skeptics who doubted any new administration would initiate major changes in the Middle East region, given past U.S. performance.

Maverick Ralph Nader, who is of Lebanese descent and has run as an independent in five U.S. presidential elections to date, told Beirut-based Assafir daily that both Obama and McCain would hurt Lebanon.

He said the Democratic and Republican candidates would be as harmful and dangerous to Lebanon as has been the administration of George W. Bush.

Lebanese citizens interviewed on Lebanon's Future TV News channel were mostly for Obama, while Iraqis were waiting for the election's results to determine their country's fate, according to an FTV report.

Palestinians, meanwhile, did not care one way or the other who won, the report added, as they'd seen little to assuage their fears of having their rights restored since the creation of the state of Israel 60 years ago.

Read more Election Day Liveblogs, Reaction and Analysis from HuffPost Bloggers

Dawn Teo: Stealing Arizona: Obama's Last Minute Incursion Into McCain's Home State

2008-11-04T14:11:23Z

PHOENIX -- In Arizona's capital city, traffic news helicopters roved over polling stations reporting both the shortest and the longest lines throughout the morning. Over the weekend, I spoke with voters who planned to get in line Tuesday morning at 5:00 AM - a full hour before the polls were scheduled to open. One voter in the Phoenix area says he was late to work even though he arrived at 5:30 AM. He had to wait in line about an hour and a half after the polls opened, until about 7:30 AM.

Lines are expected to be long throughout Election Day here. Voters reported 2-3 hour waits at early voting locations last week, and if voter turnout reaches as high as the secretary of state is expecting (approximately 85%), then voters could be waiting in line for hours after the polls close Tuesday night. Approximately one third of Arizona's registered voters requested early ballots, and all but 180,000 of those have already been returned.

John McCain, his wife Cindy, and his children emerged from his polling place at 9:15 AM this morning, adding a handful of votes to his tally - but that won't be enough if Democratic turnout outweighs Republican turnout today. The presidential race has become so competitive in John McCain's home state that he rushed back to Prescott to headline a midnight rally Monday night - the eve of Election Day.

Supporters arrived at the Yavapai County Courthouse late in the evening, and festivities were kicked off by Hank Williams Jr. around 11:00 PM. At nearly 1:00 AM, a weary John McCain finally performed a shortened version of his standard routine. John McCain also began and ended all of his Senate campaigns at the same spot in honor of Barry Goldwater, his predecessor, who did the same. The sub-headline of a foreign paper summed it up, Underdog invokes spirit of home state's most famous loser. The author went on to call Prescott the "final resting place" of the McCain-Palin campaign and said that McCain "summoned up the spirit of Arizona's most famous loser, Barry Goldwater."

Howard Dean spent Monday traversing Arizona, energizing volunteers and voters, hoping to boost enthusiasm for Obama enough to put him over the top here in McCain's home state. He told volunteers in Tempe that the race here will be determined by turnout. If Democrats turn out enough voters, he said, Obama could win McCain's home state electoral votes.

Randy Pullen, Chair of the Arizona Republican Party, sent out an email late Monday night bragging that their party had made 20,000 calls over the course of the last week. An email sent to the Obama Arizona Call Team sent out an email touting 450,000 phone calls made by its volunteers. It was unclear if that number included calls made by the coordinated campaign - either way, the disparity between the ground operations of the two major parties in Arizona is astounding.

Democratic offices in Arizona are overflowing. At every office I visited, tables were setup outside to accommodate overcrowding. At the Obama headquarters in Phoenix, they expanded into the house next door and scattered banquet tables across the porches and yards of both houses. Monday night, Arizona Communications Director Dave Cieslak estimated the number of democratic Arizona volunteers to be in the tens of thousands.

The volunteers have been motivated by an unexpected spate of polls showing Barack Obama within the margin of error in Arizona. Last week, five polls came out showing that Obama had overcome a 21 point summer deficit in Arizona to get to within striking distance just days before Election Day.

Despite the extraordinary number of volunteers, Democrats need even more help throughout Election Day -- ironically because of the closeness of the race. Because the tightening was unanticipated, the state party had been focused on specific down ticket races - targeting very specific areas parts of the state. Now, though, every voter in Arizona matters whether the down ticket races in their district or precinct are competitive or not.

Arizona has more than 2.9 million registered voters. That's a tall order in the final days of a campaign. Yet, the numbers already contacted (more than 450,000 phone calls by democrats, more than 20,000 by republicans) are staggering. If Democrats are able to continue recruiting new volunteers throughout the final hours of the race, they may come close to meeting this goal. If Obama wins this state, it undoubtedly will be attributed to the extraordinary ability of the Obama campaign and local democrats to organize and deploy an incredible large number of volunteers in the final days and hours of the race.

Saturday night, dozens of Obama volunteers worked late into the night at Obama's Arizona headquarters and other satellite offices across the Phoenix area. Local Obama volunteers and staff have sent emails in the wee hours every day for the last week. Throughout the weekend, offices across the state were overflowing with volunteers. The Obama headquarters had to extend into the house next door and scattered banquet tables across the front and back lawns of both houses to make room for more volunteers. In the heart of the most conservative district in the state, the GemDems (Greater Eastern Maricopa County Democrats) office was forced to expand onto the sidewalk out front and the loading dock in the back. Phone bankers without personal cell phones waited patiently in queues for access to party-owned cell phones and land lines. In an admirable show of teamwork, some volunteers offered their own personal cell phones to those without a phone.

Meanwhile, Sunday evening the McCain headquarters was locked and empty during prime phone banking hours. This is not an anomaly - not long ago I was forced to take photos of the McCain office through the little glass window beside the door because it was locked and empty - in the middle of a weekday afternoon. The empty office phenomenon has been noted in McCain offices across the country.

The McCain-Palin campaign stepped up efforts in other, more controversial, ways. Last Wednesday the McCain-Palin campaign began robo calling voters in Arizona with one of their controversial attacks on Obama. Latino voters also began reporting robo calls over the weekend. One local voter who wished to remain anonymous says she received a Spanish language robo call warning her to vote against Obama to protect her children from "drug traffickers, child molesters, and assassins." Like other robo calls into Arizona, this call originates 866-520-5769.

Obama Communications Director Dave Cieslak said,

In 2000, John McCain said that he would not "take the low road to the highest office in the land." Eight years later, he is running one of the most dishonest, dishonorable campaigns we have ever seen. He's using automated calls to lie about Barack Obama -- the same tactics that were used against him in 2000. Colin Powell called the automated calls "inappropriate," and four Republican U.S. Senators have called on McCain to stop these calls. That just tells you how poorly they're being received by voters.

While McCain began making automated calls attacking his opponent in the final days of the race, Obama spent money on positive television advertisement - both an indicator of the difference in tone of the two campaigns and the disparity in funding.

To win in Arizona, Obama would need to boost Kerry's 6 point margin in Pima County to nearly 20 points to make up for losses throughout the rest of Arizona - a reasonable goal given that Tucson (the state's second largest city) is a liberal bastion. Obama would also need to almost break even in Maricopa County (where Kerry lost by 15 points) while cutting into McCain's numbers throughout the rural counties, particularly Yavapai County (where Kerry lost by 23 points), the location of McCain's midnight rally Monday night.

The state has already begun counting early ballots received before Election Day, and state elections officials say they expect to finish counting those by the time the polls close Tuesday. On Wednesday, elections officials will begin counting early ballots that arrive on Tuesday. With 180,000 outstanding ballots as of Monday evening, that count could take days. If a large number of voters cast votes using provisional ballots, that could also delay results.

Pima vote count will likely be slow due to a decision by Pima County elections officials to submit results to the central office via vans because of concerns about the security of modem transmissions. Pima County elections officials said they hope to have county results by early Wednesday morning.

As results are reported, the race to watch is Arizona's third Congressional district. It is the hottest race in Arizona, and as its returns come in, it may provide a hint whether Obama will be successful in stealing McCain's home state electoral votes. If Bob Lord (D) wins the third district, which usually goes for Republican candidates, it will be a good sign for democrats watching the presidential election.

Down ticket candidates are fighting it out for control over the state legislature. With up to two dozen Arizona House seats set to be picked up by democrats, the Democratic Party is favored for taking a majority in the House. Democrats also have an outside chance at taking a majority of the state Senate.

Even "America's toughest sheriff" may be affected by Obama's coattails. The Democratic Party has taken a new tact in their battle with the conservative Maricopa County lawman: They intend to rein him in with bureaucracy. In an attempt to control Sheriff Joe Arpaio through his budget, line by line, Arizona democrats are aiming for a 3 person majority on the 5 seat Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

Besides incumbency advantage, McCain does have one thing going for him in Arizona. Prop 102, an anti-gay referendum, will likely boost conservative turnout. This referendum, if passed, would amend the state constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman. Arizonans voted down a similar measure in 2006, but the ultra conservative Arizona legislature placed it back on the ballot this year. Conservative evangelicals have been passionate about this issue, and turnout for this proposition could boost McCain's numbers.

John McCain Votes In Arizona (VIDEO)

2008-11-04T13:35:54Z

John McCain, along with wife Cindy, voted in Arizona earlier today before heading off for some last minute campaign stops in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.

Video of Obama voting
Video of the Bidens voting
Video of the Clintons voting
Video of Sarah Palin voting

WATCH MCCAIN VOTE:

Maggie Van Ostrand: Prominent Republicans Not Endorsing Obama May Cast Closet Votes for Him

2008-11-03T18:20:27Z

Number One: Cindy McCain. She'll vote for Obama because, if you've seen her eyes narrow every time she looks at Palin, she won't want to continue that relationship any longer than she has to.

It was bad enough, awful in fact, when in 1992, Cindy was called the c word by her misogynistic husband, as well as being publicly humiliated when he offered her up as a candidate in a topless beauty contest at a bikers' rally in August. (Say CrazyCat, I'll show you hers in exchange for your vote.)

Even John McCain's old buddies have said in interviews that if they wanted girls, they just hung around with him. He knew how to get them. Not respect them, just get them.

His disrespect for women, and I'm not going to talk about his disgusting joke about Chelsea Clinton, is evident in his choice and treatment of Sarah Palin. I can't be the only one who noticed Palin visibly pulling away from his enthusiastic embraces since the beginning. He used her to distract from Obama's Democratic Convention acceptance speech and it worked very well. That's politics. Then, perhaps having seen the error of his choice in the damage it's wreaking in non-Evangelical circles, he has disloyally thrown her to the wolves. She served her purpose, now he dumps her, just as he dumped his first wife when she was in a debilitating accident and was no longer the beautiful model he had married. So much for loyalty. I can only attribute Cindy's public affection for him to be either habit or low self-esteem.

John McCain's eye thing, too, may put psychic pressure on Cindy to vote against her husband. Remember the drooping left eyelid of Debate #2? Notice that it was covered up in Debate #3 by rapid blinking? Even today, as he blinks away the droop, he occasionally forgets and there's the droop again. Reminds me of Onassis' droopy lids, a sign of his fatal disease. I'm just sayin'.

Number Two: Arnold Schwarzenegger. He may be a registered Republican now, but he's a strong Democrat at heart. Just ask Warren Beatty. The Governator may do his obligatory last-minute stumping for McCain, a real "girlie man," and he may even win a few votes for him, but he's an actor. Also, as governor of a state with a budget deficit of $16 billion, he needs money from the current administration before Caligula leaves office in January. That giant sucking sound is not from Mexico, it's from California's governor.

There may be more closet Obama supporters out there who'll speak one candidate and vote for the other. We'll find out the day after the day after tomorrow.

Andy Ostroy: 25 Things I Will Not Miss About McCain, Palin and the GOP

2008-11-03T18:01:19Z

With just two days left until the most historic presidential election in our nation's history, it appears from the major national polls and electoral map that Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Joe Biden are racing towards victory, while the GOP's Sen. John McCain and his running mate Gov. Sarah Palin are fast headed back to Arizona and the igloo-with-the-view (of Russia).

To be sure, as the Straight Talk Express heads West Wednesday morning, I will not be mourning the absence of McNasty and the Wacky Wasilla Wonder from the national stage. In fact, there are many things in particular that I most definitely will not miss (in no particular order):

1. I will not miss McCain and Palin's repeated lies about Obama's tax policies

2. I will not miss the phrase "spreading the wealth"

3. I will not miss McCain constantly saying that Obama is "measuring the drapes"

4. I will not miss McCain incessantly reSURGEitating that we're winning the Iraq war

5. I will not miss being told I live in the "unpatriotic" part of the USA

6. I will not miss hearing that trickle down economics is the way to keep America strong despite the fact that it's nearly destroyed us financially during the past eight years

7. I will not miss Cindy McCain standing behind her man at rallies nodding approvingly like a sedated Stepford Wife

8. I will not miss McCain and Palin's brand of McCarthyism, as they relentlessly refer to Obama as a socialist, elitist, terrorist and any other slur that ends in "ist"

9. I will not miss the reprehensible propaganda that Obama's a Muslim

10. I will not miss McCain and Palin twisting Biden's words about Obama being tested

11. I will not miss McCain and Palin's non-stop nastiness, sarcasm and
condescension

12. I will not miss all the "maverick" talk

13. I will not miss the nonsense about McCain and Palin "cleaning up Washington"

14. I will not miss Sarah Palin. Especially her painfully grating voice

15. I will not miss all the "gosh-darnits" and "you betchas"

16. I will not miss Palin's views on the role of the vice president

17. I will not miss McCain accusing Obama of being a "celebrity," when his choice of Palin was purely a cheap political stunt designed to turn her into a celebrity

18. I sure as hell won't miss Joe the Plumber...the unlicensed, lien-fighting GOP stooge who just hired a talent manager to extend his annoying 15 minutes of fame despite the fact that we're already sick of him

19. I will not miss the curb-like depths that McPalin's campaign has sunk to and which have empowered miscreants like North Carolina's Sen. Elizabeth Dole to create outrageously offensive "Godless" snear ads directed at her opponent Kay Hagen. That's right Kay, sue the friggin' crap out of her, baby!

20. I will not miss McCain saying "My Friends" 800 times during a 10-minute speech

21. I will not miss the phrase "country first"

22. I will not miss the blatant hypocrisy and classic Freudian Projection of McPalin

23. I will not miss The View's Elizabeth Hasselbeck's embarrassing attempt to sound like anything but a brainwashed, Kool-Aid-drunken Republican dunce pathetically trying to defend McPalin

24. I will not miss the so-called "undecideds" who, despite having two candidates who are diabolically opposed on every single major issue, are still "torn"

25. I will not miss the undeniable end to the sleezy Rovian era of GOP politics.

I will, however, greatly miss Tina Fey.

Michelle Obama And Cindy McCain's Changing Necklines

2008-11-03T11:46:00Z

After the popular, and telling, Campaign Transformations Revealed! slideshow, we had a little revelation of our own. The campaign trail creates change for all the candidates but a clear trend has emerged with campaigning wives Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain: traveling necklines. While Cindy has become decidedly more conservative over the last year, Michelle has done just the opposite and followed a more "Hilary Clinton" approach, embracing more form fitting, chest grazing outfits as she emerged into the spotlight. Check out the before-and-afters below:

Read more about Michelle Obama's style.

Read more about Cindy McCain's style.

Campaign Trail PDA: The McCain/Palin Edition (SLIDESHOW)

2008-11-03T07:09:20Z

This was originally posted October 23rd.

In light of the reported "tenseness" between John McCain and Sarah Palin during their interview with Brian Williams on Monday, we thought it would be interesting to take another look at their body language onstage and off. See an updated slideshow below.

**See Campaign PDA: The Obama/Biden Edition**

236.com: The Curse Of Cindy McCain (VIDEO)

2008-11-01T13:26:33Z

Watch the new 236.com video, "The Curse of Cindy McCain." Beware, late at night, you can see her image hovering behind John McCain.

Rebecca Shapiro: Halloween's Best Political Costumes (PHOTO SLIDESHOW)

2008-11-01T02:42:15Z

Halloween: the only night of the year where you see cats dressed as Biden, humans as voting booths, an eleven-year-old as Joe the Plumber and a two-year-old as Barack Obama. Take a look at some of last night's best political costumes.

Got Halloween photos? Send them to us at campaigntrail AT huffintonpost.com. Resize your photos to 550 x 400 and provide captions.

VIEW ALL SLIDESHOWS

For more Huffington Post coverage of the 2008 Presidential Campaign, go back to HuffPost's OffTheBus, check out Huff Post's Politics page, and our HuffPost bloggers' Twitter feed.

Peter Mehlman: In No Particular Order....

2008-11-01T02:10:04Z

A few notes:

Note 1: On Thursday's Larry King episode, Ben Stein took a stab at graciousness but -- damn it -- came up just shy. He started out okay, complimenting the efficiency of the Obama campaign. But sadly, that wee moment of sanity goosed his fight-or-flight adrenals, kayoed his nervous system and caused him to say the Obama team had run the most brilliant campaign since Nixon in 1972.

Nixon. In. 1972.

Imagine, Obama's team can be mentioned in the same breath as those who composed the Canuck Letter to destroy Edmund Muskie. David Axelrod's strategies can revel in being as effective as Nixon's squadron of USC boys who sabotaged Democrats through "rat fucking." David Plouffe can take the same pride in his efforts as those who planned the break-in of DNC headquarters leading to Nixon's resignation as the most disgraced public official in American History.

Note 2: Considering the money his campaign blows on make-up, it is astonishing to see McCain on the stump. He's been pancaked into looking like a long-time fugitive whose face has been digitally aged to approximate his current appearance. A fugitive on an Un-Wanted Poster. Even Cindy, standing icily behind him looking like someone who can hang up on you in person, seems to glance at her husband as if he's someone who seems only vaguely familiar.

Note 3: As has been the case for 40 years, the most insightful and incisive coverage of the Presidential race comes from Garry Trudeau. Only Doonesbury boils things down without the crushing repetitiveness of all other media. And for Trudeau's most dazzling trick, he keeps the strip just as up-to-the minute as everyone else.

Oh... and he's a lot funnier.

Outside the Doonesbury oasis of thought, following the campaign coverage is a zero sum game. Or maybe a once-in- three-weeks sum game. That's about the frequency of actual news amid the exhausting accounts of campaign stops, the blizzard of polls that drip toward obsolesence the minute they come out and the tortuous man-on-the-street interviews with the small town Democrat for Obama, the same small town Republican for McCain, the same small town attention junkie who's undecided and the same small town rebel who won't vote because the whole thing is fixed anyhow.

(Dumb people were so much more pleasant before they got cynical, no?)

Note 4: If McCain loses, can Sarah Palin go back to Alaska and be happy? She'd miss those outfits, those private jets, those SNL appearances, wouldn't she? When you think about it, her situation is just like the Dalai Lama's situation. (No really. Hang in. This is brilliant) After years of hanging out with Brad Pitt and Richard Gere and all of those demi-zen actress, would the Dalai Lama really be happy if China relented and he had to move back to Tibet?

Whatever the case, it's nice in a We-Are-The-World kind of way to muse over how Sarah Palin and the Dalai Lama share common concerns.

Summer Rayne Oakes: If Sarah Palin were a sustainable style maven...

2008-10-31T15:23:09Z

Much attention has been paid to Sarah Palin's style these last couple weeks--thanks to the surprising news about her impressive wardrobe bill. And while our ears may be tuned to economic news these days, our eyes cannot help but be drawn to the perfectly frivolous but delightfully satisfying allure of Vice Presidential and First Lady style.

I think it's safe to say that even Joe the Plumber knows that Sarah Palin is in no danger of preaching the good word of environmental responsibility...But since Sustainability is such a top-of-mind issue and Style is something that Michelle, Cindy, and Sarah all have--I figured it was time to look at some of the sophisticated, sustainable White House-worthy power pieces they're donning in the final days.

Lucky for us Recessionistas, these pieces are sharp, stylish and won't force anyone to take out a second mortgage.

GET ALL MAVERICKY WITH A SLEEK SUIT. This well-tailored silver-gray, single-buttoned suit jacket with skinny leg trouser commands attention while playing up feminine sophistication. All fabrics are Oeko-Tech certified. Design by Noir and available at Fashion-Conscience for $860 USD.

MILITARY CHIC. We may not all be able to tote a gun around, but we can be buttoned up in this shrunken military style suit jacket and pencil skirt with asymmetrical seams. 100% bamboo rayon suiting lined with organic cotton in gunmetal black. Design by Deux-Fm and available at Nimli. Suit $296 USD; Skirt $144 USD.

GOT SHOES? YOU BETCHA! No animals were harmed in the making of these shoes. These very contemporary, vegan heels give any suit an elegant but modern edge. Shoes by Neuaura and available at Nimli. Esperanaza boots $89 USD and Lolita shoes $74.

IT'S COLD IN ALASKA. Wrap up in bi-color jackets made from 80% recycled wool and 20% nylon. Designs by Grace & Cello and available at Nimli for $260 USD and $365 USD respectively.

POLLS ARE IN. A cosmopolitan mac hand-embroidered by women in Pakistan. Available at Ethika Boutique for $230 USD.

WINNING CANDIDATE. An organic cotton fleece swing coat with bow that adds a beauitful feminine detail for the colder months. Design by Emily Katz and available at Nimli for $174 USD.

FROM PTA MOM TO VP-CLIMBING THE LADDER. An origami pleat ladder blouse is a decidedly feminine take on a traditional tunic. Hand-woven in Pakistan. Available at Ethika Boutique for $105 USD.

FOREIGN POLICY. An elegantly-cut sari-inspired dress with gold brocade and embroidery detailing. Classicly elegant form by Indian-American designer Swati Argade; made to order.

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Beverly Wettenstein: Is Sarah Palin a "Double Dutch Feminist?"

2008-10-31T12:32:32Z

Sarah Palin is living the feminist dream. She came of age post-Title IX to play with the Wasilla Warriors HS basketball team. Graduating from college, she worked as a sports reporter at a local TV station. She was elected the first woman governor of Alaska in 2006. Less than two years later, she was appointed the first Republican woman vice presidential nominee, nearing the ceiling Geraldine Ferraro cracked as the first woman VP nominee on the Democratic ticket in 1984. Her husband, the champion Iron Man/househusband, has a flexible work schedule and shares responsibilities for the children and home.

In her acceptance speech, Palin said, "It was highly noted in Denver that Hillary made 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America. It turns out the women of America aren't finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all." Will she shatter the glass ceiling for all women?

Palin cited Sen. Hillary Clinton and Ferraro in her speech. Ferraro was a three-term member of Congress, with three children aged 22, 18 and 20. She had worked her way through college and attended law school at night, while teaching third grade. Upon graduation, she stayed home for 14 years to raise her children and then became an assistant DA. Thousands of women and men have been working toward this landmark event for all women since the mid 1800s.

Clinton was the third woman to compete in the major party primaries. Her name was put in nomination at the convention to recognize her historic race and more than 1,900 delegates. Shirely Chisholm, an African-American, got 152 delegates at the DNC in 1972. I wish Palin had recognized Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman to be nominated at a major party's convention, at the RNC, in 1964, and got 27 delegate votes. Smith was the first woman elected to both the House (1940 to 1949) and the Senate (1949-1973), as the longest-serving woman.

Sarah Palin personifies the feminist manifesta. The Webster dictionary defines feminist as: the prinicple that women should have political, economic and social rights equal to those of men." Yet, opponents to women's equality have massacred the word "feminist" to create a popular pejorative.

The Sunday after Palin's VP announcement, her interview with Maria Bartiromo aired on Meet the Press. Tom Brokaw asked, "Would Sarah Palin consider herself a feminist?" Bartiromo responded, "Not a feminist. A champion for women."

Cindy McCain explained to a More magazine reporter, "I'm not a feminist. I am an independent Western woman!"

John McCain on Fox News Sunday, said Palin "is a direct counterpoint to the liberal feminist agenda for America." Actually, there would be no women voters if the maverick, reformer feminists had not fought for women's suffrage for all women.

In her interview with Charles Gibson, Palin acknowledged that she was "a beneficiary of Title IX." At a recent campaign stop, Palin said, "When I was a girl, Congress passed Title IX. That law allowed millions of girls like me to play sports. And I have never forgotten that we owed that opportunity to the feminists who came before us."

When Brian Williams asked if she was a feminist, Palin answered that she wasn't going to label herself, but wanted to be seen as an advocate and friend for women in the White House. "I do believe in women's rights and equal rights." Are "Hockey Mom," "Maverick," and "Reformer" more acceptable labels? She told Gretchen Wilson that someone called her a "Redneck Woman" and she thanked him.

Sarah Palin and Cindy McCain, both women of accomplishment, are following in the footsteps of many pioneer, independent Western, Eastern, Northern and Southern women feminists who built the bridges to enable them -- and all women -- to fulfill their ambitions today. Maverick, reformer feminist leaders made sacrifices -- and risked ridicule -- so that future generations of women could vote and run for office and own a home, property and a business.

"Change is the operative word for this year's campaign by both parties. Women have been shortchanged historically for years. When Ferraro was nominiated in 1984, women earned 59 cents for every dollar a man earned. Today women earn 78 cents on the dollar.

I've coined the term "Double Dutch Feminist" to identify women who are jumping between the Feminist and Conservative rope lines, to their own benefit. I have yet to learn of one woman who said, "I am not a feminist. I cannot accept the rights they've won for all women."

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, mother of seven, led the first women's rights movement for almost 50 years and organized the Seneca Falls meeting in 1848. She crusaded for women's suffrage, property rights, equal wages and dress reform. In 1895, Stanton was honored by 6,000 people on her 80th birthday at the Metropolitan Opera House. "I am well aware that all these public demonstrations are not so much tributes to me as an individual as the great ideas I represent -- the enfranchisement of women."

Only one of the founding mothers present at the Seneca Falls meeting was alive to vote in 1920. Charlotte Woodward had been a 19-year-old glove maker who arrived in a horse-drawn wagon. She was among the 68 women and 32 men who signed the Declaration of Sentiments.

Women born after the 1960s are often not aware of the struggles to secure the opportunities that were denied their mothers and grandmothers. They are the true beneficiaries of the second wave of the women's movement, beginning in the 1970s. Indeed, they got the new rights without the old fights for equality, waged on their behalf.

When I speak around the country on "A Woman's Place in the 21st Century," young women tell me they don't vote because they don't connect to politics. I explain that before hard-fought legislation was implemented, women couldn't secure a credit card, home mortgage or small business loan in their own name -- without their father's or husband's consent. Women weren't admitted to Ivy League colleges, service academies, graduate and professional schools. Women weren't eligible for college athletic scholarships, marathons, the Olympics and professional sports. Women could not wear pants to work, to school or restaurants. Job "Help Wanted" ads were separated by sex.

Research has confirmed my own findings that less than 10% of the references in new history textbooks are about women. Anonymous may be a woman! I consider myself a populist women's historian. My mission is to popularize women's history, which is rarely recorded or reported. Hence, I created the "Women in History and Making History Today - 365-Days-A-Year Database" and "A Woman's Book A Day Journal".

The image and perception of women in society is informed by the news coverage of women and vice-versa. As a women's advocate and historian, speaker, journalist and media monitor, I noticed the deficit of women as major magazine cover stories subjects. In a news store, my five-year-old nephew immediately identified magazines and videos for "boys" or girls" based solely on the cover image.

Hence, I determined to create my first annual "Women and Major Magazines Cover Stories Monitor." My study found that eight women merited full cover story photos on the total 200 issues of Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, Newsweek, and Time, in 2006. Currently, I am completing my 2007 Magazine Monitor. Most importantly, I invite the public to join me in monitoring magazine cover stories and writing to the magazines. It's so easy, a child can do it!

The View TV show, now in its twelfth season, epitomizes the advances women have made in TV and society. The show's existence and success are due in part to affirmative action and diversity legislation led by women activists. Prior to the 1970s, women had to look outside the TV box for career opportunities. The program's goal is to showcase women of different generations, backgrounds and perspectives. The current five co-hosts represent diverse opinions and include two African-American women and three comedians. The show is closely monitored daily by the media. The fact that they have become a "Hot Topic" in the news and national conversation themselves, indicates the acceptance and growing role of diverse women in the media and society. They are pioneer women in their own spheres of influence.

In 1974, Barbara Walters was officially designated the first woman co-host on Today. She became the first woman co-anchor of a daily evening news program in 1976. That year she moderated the final debate between Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford. She is co-creator, co-owner, co-host and co-executive producer of The View.

In 1971, Walters became the host of Not for Women Only, the prototype daytime women's program for The View. This was in direct response to the 1970 Federal Communications Commission ruling that required affirmative action in radio and TV, but deliberately excluded women. Two years after much lobbying, women were finally included in affirmative action employment and TV programs for women, as a condition for broadcast license renewal. The Equal Employment Act was passed in 1972.

Whoopi Goldberg, the current moderator, was the first woman to host the Academy Awards solo, in 1994 and in 1996, 1999 and 2002. She was the second African-American woman to win the Academy Award, for Ghost, in 1990. Yet, somehow they didn't include her in last year's Oscars retrospective. Goldberg was the first woman to win the Kennedy Center annual Mark Twain Prize for Comedy. She is among the few who have won an Oscar, Grammy, Tony and Emmy.

Walters first saw Joy Behar when she performed at a birthday party for Milon Berle twelve years ago. Behar was the first woman roastmaster at the Friars Club in 1997. The Friars admitted their first women members in 1988, when legislation mandated that private clubs admit women. Phyllis Diller dressed as a man to sneak into the stag Sid Caesar Roast in 1983.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck represents the younger, post-Title IX generation and Conservatives. She co-captained the women's softball team for two seasons at Boston College, class of 1999, and earned an athletic scholarship in her senior year. It is a testament to Walters and the co-hosts that the presidential campaigns value their platform to reach women voters. Hasselbeck and her husband were among the 131 guests invited to the only white tie White House State Dinner for Queen Elizabeth.

Laura Ingraham, a radio host and conservative political commentator, has noted that she is against affirmative action. However, she did attend Dartmouth College a decade after it was the next to last Ivy League institution to admit women undergraduates. Women comprised less than 25% of the University of Virginia Law School students when she graduated in 1991. I don't know if she graduated first in her class. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O'Connor graduated at the top of their law school class (Stanford 1951 and Columbia 1959, respectively). They were denied jobs as Supreme Court law clerks or in private law firms. Their only offers were to be a law secretary. Ingraham was clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas. Thirteen of the current 37 Supreme Court clerks are female.

In short, not to skirt the anti-feminist issue, some women exploit affirmative action for personal gain. Thus, they achieve success the old-fashioned way, through well-positioned mentors, with emphasis on the first syllable. Have you noticed that many of the mostly blond ambition tour of conservative women commentators never run out of material -- until they get dressed? Ingraham appeared on a 1995 New York Times Magazine cover story about rising young conservatives in a rising leopardskin miniskirt.

Are these the new WMDs: Women of Media Distraction from the real issues of women's equality? Is it sexism only if it's about women in your own party?

Palin is being heralded as a role model for working mothers. In 1920, Ella Alexander Boole ran unsuccessfully for the Senate with the slogan: "Send a mother to the Senate." She won more than 150,000 votes. Sen. Patty Murray (Washington) campaigned successfully for the US Senate in 1992, as "a mom in tennis shoes," with the support of 10,000 volunteers.

If "pro" is the opposite of "con," is progress the opposite of Congress? A stag Congress may lead to stagnation. In the current Congress, women hold 87 (16.3%) of the 535 seats; 16 (16%) of the 100 seats in the Senate and 71 (16.3%) of the 435 seats in the House. Nancy Pelosi is the first woman Speaker of the House. Pelosi, a mother and grandmother, was elected to Congress at 47, when her youngest of five children was 16. Prior to 1992, "the Year of the Women," no more than two elected women had served in the Senate at the same time.

Currently, six Senators and 13 Representatives have children under 18. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers gave birth to a son with Down Syndrome in April. These working mothers represent the 70 percent of mothers with school-age children who work outside the home. This summer Congress opened its first nursing room.

Eleanor Roosevelt was 36 when she was allowed to cast her first vote. More than 35 million eligible women did not vote in the 2004 election. Less than 47% of the women aged 18 to 29 voted in 2004. This is a groundbreaking year with the first viable female presidential candidate and the first female nominated as VP in the Republican party.

Girls in America will never again ask, "Can a girl grow up to run for VP or President?"

Christine Gregiore was elected Governor of Washington in the closest gubernatorial race in history. She won in a final manual count by 133 votes out of 2.8 million cast.

Please turn out. Don't tune out. Vote for yourself and future generations of women.

"Celebrate Women Every Day!" This Week in Women's History:

Oct. 26

Born 1947 Hillary Rodham Clinton First American First Lady (1993-2001) who was elected to public office. First woman elected statewide in NY, as first woman Senator for NY, in 2000; reelected in 2006. She was the first woman in 2008 to be a presidential candidate in every primary and caucus in every state; received 18 million votes.

Born 1911 Mahalia Jackson First "Queen of Gospel Music." Honored on US Postal stamp.

Oct. 27

Born 1924 Ruby Dee Actress and her husband, Ossie Davis, awarded American National Medal of the Arts. At 84, she was the second-oldest actress Academy Award nominee, "American Gangster," in 2008.

Oct. 28

1958 On this day, Mary G. Roebling became the first woman stock exchange governor, of the American Stock Exchange. At 30, she was the first woman to head a major US bank, Trenton Trust Co., in NJ. Cofounder, of Women's Bank in Denver, in 1978; the first national chartered bank founded by women.

Oct. 29

Born 1938 Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the "Iron Lady," was elected the first woman president of an African country, in Liberia, in 2005.

1945 On this day, Anna Rosenberg was the first woman to receive the Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian award and the first woman awarded the Medal for Merit in 1947. She was adviser to Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman.

Oct. 30

1968 On this day, Kathy Kusner, 29, became the first woman licensed jockey in US, after mounting a successful legal case. Show Jumping Hall of Fame, 1996.

Oct. 31

1854 On this day, the 128 female US postmasters received the same pay as men; the first profession to establish pay equity.

Born 1860 Juliette Gordon, founder of the Girl Scouts in US. Her home in Savannah has been designated a National Historic Landmark. US Postal stamp. Federal building named for her in Savannah.

Born 1896 Ethel Waters, first African-American star of a national radio show. Second African-American Academy Award nominee. Grammy Hall of Fame. US Postal stamp.

Nov. 1

1848 On this day, the Boston Female Medical School opened with 12 students. Twenty six years later, merged with Boston University School of Medicine, to become one of the first coed medical colleges in the world.

Source:
Beverly Wettenstein's "Women in History and Making History Today - 365-Days-A-Year Database"

Michael Woods: When McCain Called His Wife The "C" Word

2008-10-31T10:35:07Z

Knock on wood, but it's feeling like Team Obama has run a damn near flawless campaign as we count down to D-Day, when we all decide whether we desire a serene, cerebral, empathetic person in the White House, or we choose another emotionally stunted Top Gunner who is destined to work out his daddy issues in public until his dying day.

Who is any pundit to say that Team Obama could've done this, or that, to bolster his numbers heading in to Tuesday? As someone who popped the Champagne cork prematurely in 2004, and blared "No Surrender" on the stereo while the soulless operatives were working feverishly to snatch the victory from the jaws of defeat, I must unload every kitchen sink at my disposal, to insure that Team McPalin's effort is rewarded with the disposition that is just for such a cynical bunch of wretches: the political graveyard reserved for losers who lost without a shred of dignity or decency.

The one kitchen sink that I see as the heaviest, and most effective in potentially yanking any waffler from their side to ours, is a story about John McCain that has made the rounds somewhat like a half ass version of the Wave at a stadium. The anecdote, which says as much as I need to hear about what a monumental hothead John McCain is, took place in 1992. The author Cliff Schecter, in his book The Real McCain, broke the story, and I tracked him down to shed some light on McCain's despicable conduct, which was witnessed by three reporters in Arizona. McCain, then 56, was on the campaign trail with his second wife, Cindy. As Schecter recounts, Cindy was standing with her hubby, and two McCain aides. She twirled his hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there. " McCain blushed, and responded with a level of vehemence that any fence sitter pondering voting for a man who seems to view wars as his version of Viagra has to see as simply scary: "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt." Three reporters, Schecter says, were present for this disgusting display, which is an unpardonable offense for any man, of any age, and any stripe. Jaws hit the floor, Cindy McCain was aghast...and John McCain's considerable bellicosity flared to a new level of vulgarity and inappropriateness.

I ask you, fence sitter, do you want this guy, who demeaned his wife like that, meeting with any foreign head of state who may not see eye to with this nation? Mind you, this incident occurred when McCain was 56 years old. Not that it could be excused if he were 16, or 26, or 36, but we have to presume that an adult who had served 10 years in Congress has attained a measure of civility and serenity at that age. Not McCain. His bellicosity, which has merely been hinted at in the last ten months, as he's been termed "erratic" and such, is the sort of character trait that could draw the country into a quagmire with a nation more able to muster a mighty response than Iraq. Really, do you want McCain working off his daddy issues with Medvedev, or his puppetmaster, Putin?

Schecter does not.

"The Obama people have not pushed the temperament issue as much as they could've," Schecter told me. "That's probably because there's so much other stuff out there. The Obama team has done a good job, they've brought it up in subtle ways, contrasting McCain with Obama, through people like Colin Powell, and Bill Weld."

Schecter also theorizes that Obama strategists didn't want to risk their man falling into a common stereotype. "They perhaps didn't want him to be perceived as "the angry black man." Schecter likens Obama to the Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, who broke Major League Baseball's color line in 1947, and did so in a most dignified manner. He never responded to taunts and slights, and instead chose to let his superior play speak for him.

Schecter, by the way, spent 10 ten days in Arizona a year ago gathering info for his book. A GOP operative first told him about the "cunt" incident, and gave Schecter the name of a reporter who was present. That journalist corroborated the story, and told Schecter he was tempted to run with it at the time, but chose not to. That reporter is still in the business, in Arizona, as is one other journalist, in another state. The other journalist/witness has left that field.

So, why didn't McCain's public display make the papers back then? The first Arizona pressman Schecter reached spoke to his editor at the time, and it was decided the story wasn't appropriate to share. As Schecter points out, this was before l'affaire Lewinsky, and the press was less inclined to traffic in spicier fare. "There was some regret" subsequently, Schecter said, but later, the anecdote was deemed too stale to share.

Nonsense, I say. If Team McCain can point to his military service (from 1958-1981) and POW status (1967-1973) as resume bullet points that speak to his character, then I can argue with complete confidence that an ultra-ugly blowup from 1992 is fair game.

Schecter's shocking get has made Vanity Fair, the NY Daily News, the New Yorker, US News and World Report, and the Daily Show. But I say it deserves the level of press attention reserved for attractive blond women who have been kidnapped, at least a full news cycle. Schecter agrees.

"This incident says that John McCain doesn't have the temperament to be President," he said. "He's explosive."

Any of you fence-sitters who need another example or three of McCain's volcanic temper, which could easily lead us into World War III, should hurry up an get overnight Amazon shipping of "The Real McCain."

This nation must seek to find a leader who possesses NONE of the qualities that have made Bush such a colossal failure, and if they choose McCain, they are choosing someone with a similar level of petulance, but a stronger inclination to ratchet a confrontation to the level of violence. Schecter said that he doesn't want to play shrink, but offers that it is reasonably obvious, even to the layperson, that McCain has spent his life trying to measure up to and surpass his father, as has Bush: "Obama has this serenity, and doesn't feel the need to posture and surpass his father. He's confident in who he is."

Finally, I'm guessing that this story hasn't gotten more play because of our national timidity and Puritanism. Because people aren't comfortable with saying or hearing the word "cunt" employed as an epithet, does not mean we should ignore a most meaningful incident, which speaks loudly to the character of the man who deems himself worthy to hold this nation's highest office. I say, spread the word, tell anyone you might know who can't decide between McCain and Obama about McCain's propensity for volcanic eruptions against loved ones and colleagues.

Truly, John McCain is not a man suited to inhabit the oval office. Heading a Rageaholics Anonymous meeting, maybe, POTUS, no way.

Win McCormack: McCain Family Values (3)

2008-10-30T20:04:04Z

In further consideration of Yale professor and Weekly Standard editor David Gelernter's desire to associate John McCain with the Hebrew concept of tsaddick--"A man of such nobility and moral substance that he approaches holiness" is how he defines it--we offer today the final installment of our three-part series "McCain Family Values."

We feel that this series, together with the other blogs we have done on the subject of Mr. McCain over the past two months, adequately addresses Professor Gelertner's concern that, "If this assertion sounds crazy, that only shows how little we have thought about the issue," and demonstrates that, in our case at least, we have researched and thought about the issue at considerable length.

"During my short tenure at AVMT, I have been surrounded by what on the surface appears to be the ultimate all-American family. In reality, I am working for a very sad, lonely woman whose marriage of convenience to a U.S. Senator has driven her to: distance herself from friends; cover feelings of despair with drugs; and replace lonely moments with self-indulgences," Tom Gosinski wrote in his journal in the summer of 1992.

AMTV stood for the American Voluntary Medical Team, a charity founded by Cindy McCain, John McCain's second wife, to provide medical equipment and relief to poor countries around the world. Gosinski had been hired in 1991 as AMTV's director of government and international affairs. Somewhere along the line he began to suspect that the "sad, lonely woman" he referred to in his diary entry was addicted to pain killers and was pilfering drugs such as Vicodin and Percoset from her own charity, and pressuring the AMTV medical director into writing prescriptions with names of AMTV employees on them for her to use.

When Cindy let Gosinski go in early 1993, claiming the charity could no longer afford him, he went to the DEA, fearing that his name had been used on some of the prescriptions -- which, as things turned out, it had been. Cindy somehow managed to avoid federal criminal charges and was instead allowed to enter a drug diversion program. The AMTV medical director was forced to surrender his medical license. The charity closed its doors. John McCain said he had no idea about his wife's serious addiction of several years (which began when she started using pain medication for a back injury and to quell her distress about her husband's involvement in the Keating Five scandal).

Gosinski wrote in his diary about Cindy and John McCain's marriage: "I've seen loving relationships and I wouldn't say their relationship was in that category. It was kind of formal, stiff, cold." He also wrote, "There were always a lot of rumors of affairs around John and one or two about Cindy."

Loneliness, and neglect, seem to be the essence of Cindy's experience as Mrs. John McCain. An Oct. 18 New York Times article titled "Behind McCain, Washington Outsider Wanting Back In," by Jodi Kantor and David M. Halbfinger, lays it out. After a few months in Washington when her husband first entered Congress, she returned to Arizona and the two have essentially lived apart, in different cities, ever since -- leading "only partly overlapping lives," as the Times put it. Some of the Senator's Washington friends say they barely know his wife, and parents at their children's schools in Arizona told the Times they have little if any cognizance of him. They often vacation separately. Mrs. McCain orders birthday gifts from her husband for herself. She has endured several miscarriages alone.

By Cindy's own testimony, the two have spent the most time together when campaigning, but even there they clearly keep a formal distance. "In introducing her husband at events, she offers few heart-warming anecdotes that are the stock in trade of the political spouse," Kantor and Halbfinger wrote. "When she finishes, she stands silently behind Mr. McCain, sometimes with an approving look, sometimes looking strained." After his second debate with Barack Obama, when Cindy moved in his direction with the clear intention of congratulating and embracing him, he walked right past her to the audience. On campaign flights, the Senator typically has Cindy sit in the back while he positions himself up front, with or without hangers-on.

As has truly been said, no one really understands a marriage who is outside of it. But here is how this marriage looks from the outside (and is how it looked to Nicholas Kristoff when he first opened up the subject in 2000): It has been, in the words of Tom Gosinski, a "marriage of convenience" -- par excellence. When he hooked up with her and dumped his first wife, she provided John McCain with youth (she was some twenty years younger than him), wealth, a place to launch his political career, and the connections at the highest level there to make it work.

And what has Cindy gotten on her side of the bargain? Well, Jodi Kantor and David M. Halbfinger of the New York Times, seeking to explain her recent great zest for campaigning for her husband and the unusual viciousness of some of her recent remarks about Barack Obama, wrote: "Some note that she has invested for decades in his career and now sees the ultimate prize in sight." But if the polls and my own sense of things are correct, this prize is going to elude her. She may have endured a loveless, utilitarian marriage for little or nothing.

She has certainly endured verbal abuse from her husband, on the campaign trail at least. One time, when she tried to comment wryly on his balding pate at a campaign stop, he called her a "trollop" and a "cunt" in the vicinity of a microphone. Recently, he offered to enter her in the annual "Miss Buffalo Chip Contest" (essentially a strip-tease affair) of a rowdy, debauched South Dakota motorcycle gang (see "McCain Family Values (1)," Sept. 8).

This latter incident prompted Texas pastor Kirbyon Caldwell, who is a close friend of George W. Bush and his family (he officiated at Jenna Bush's wedding) although he is now supporting Obama, to declare that this comment by McCain is, "not, N-O-T, the type of expression that a presidential candidate, or anyone for that matter who is a follower of the Christian faith, ought to make." Or of any faith, he might have added.

To which we say, urging David Gelernter -- even though we use a Latin rather than a Hebrew term -- to join us: Amen.