Family Matters

Matt Lewis | June 09, 2008 4:28 PM

A lot of bloggers are talking about this story about McCain's first wife

"Some of McCain’s acquaintances are less forgiving, however. They portray the politician as a self-centred womaniser who effectively abandoned his crippled wife to ‘play the field’. They accuse him of finally settling on Cindy, a former rodeo beauty queen, for financial reasons."

Some McCain supporters take solace in the fact that McCain and his ex-wife are still friends. My take is that it's unrealistic to assume someone could come back from years of torture as a POW, and resume normal domestic tranquility -- even with the person who stuck with them through the whole mess.

This, of course, doesn't mean that a survivor has to leave his wife. And McCain doesn't cite this reason as an excuse -- he blames himself. Still, I think the emotional baggage that comes with going through what he went through has to have a dramatic impact on relationships.

Personally, this story seems like a bit of a hit job. It's not terribly surprising, since some Hillary supporters -- and some conservatives -- have recently stepped-up attacks on Michelle Obama. Still, it's an issue that is going to come out, so we might as well address it here and now ...