John McCain’s new ad is titled, “Character Forged By Family.” Here’s a piece of the narration:
The family he was born into, and the family he is blessed with now, made John McCain the man he is, and instilled in him a deep and abiding respect for the social institution that wields the greatest influence in the formation of our individual character and the character of our society.
The ol’ family values schtick—and McCain’s family values—happen to incorporate military values. But for more on McCain and family values, let’s turn to a 1999 Arizona Republic profile of McCain (which does not appear to be available on-line):
He prides himself on his personal integrity yet admits he wasn’t faithful to his first wife, Carol, who was injured in a horrific car accident while McCain was in Vietnam….
McCain needed a divorce from his wife of 14 years, Carol, who had been badly injured in a car accident while McCain languished in Hanoi.
The marriage had been strained by his years of absence, along with McCain’s admitted affairs after returning from Vietnam.
In February 1980, less than a year after he met Cindy, McCain petitioned a Florida court to dissolve his marriage to Carol, calling the union “irretrievably broken.” Bud Day, a lawyer and fellow POW, handled the case.
“I thought things were going fairly well, and then it just came apart,” Day recalls. “That happened to quite a few….I don’t fault (Carol), and I don’t really fault John, either.”
McCain’s entitled to use his life’s story as part of his campaign narrative. But if his campaign is going to play the family card, there’s more than, as the ad references, “honor, courage, duty, perseverance and leadership” in the story of John McCain, family man.
