McCain's first wife is left in shadows
BY CLAIRE MITCHEL
Miami Herald, Sunday, October 12, 2008
Many women are outraged by the reckless decision by Sen. John McCain to pick Sarah Palin as his vice presidential candidate. We are worried, frightened and frustrated.

So much is at stake in this election. The future of women's rights. The health of our democracy. The economy. Our civil rights. Sen. Barack Obama, you have my whole-hearted support for the presidency. You are the future and we need you.

We have lost respect and stature at home and abroad. The GOP has created a smoke screen that diverts attention from some of the inadequacies of John McCain. He was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, but what has he done for servicemen and veterans?

''McCain likes to illustrate his moral fiber by referring to his five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam,'' according to a June online article by London's The Daily Mail. ``And to demonstrate his commitment to family values, the 71-year-old former U.S. Navy pilot pays warm tribute to his beautiful wife Cindy, with whom he has four children.''

WIFE NO. 1

But there is another Mrs. McCain ''who casts a ghostly shadow over the senator's presidential campaign,'' according to the Daily Mail article, titled ''The wife U.S. Republican John McCain callously left behind.'' Carol McCain is seldom seen and seldom written about, despite being the mother of McCain's three oldest children.

Carol McCain was a slim beauty when she and John McCain married. While he was in Vietnam, Carol was in a catastrophic car accident. She was thrown from the car and sustained serious injuries. Her resulting injuries, according to a Los Angeles Times article, left her several inches shorter and heavier.

DUMPED

She has suffered in silence. The Times article states that McCain's eye began wandering long before he met Cindy, who was young, beautiful and wealthy. He divorced Carol in 1980 and shortly afterward married Cindy.

Carol McCain, who lives in a Virginia Beach bungalow, says she's not bitter against her ex-husband. She says their marriage ended because ''John McCain didn't want to be 40. He wanted to be 25,'' the Daily Mail article states.

There are lots of important issues to think about -- but let's not let the pick of a woman vice presidential candidate distract us.