Of Sacred and Secular
Religion writer Eileen Flynn on faith in our society.The moral question of McCain’s first marriage
OK, this isn’t about religion, per se. But I think the Daily Mail story of Sen. McCain’s dark marital history challenges both Democrats and Republicans to reconsider their stances on marital morality.
This is complicated, don’t get me wrong, but the thrust of the story is (and many of us were already aware of this): When McCain returned from the POW camp in 1973, he found his wife Carol had been severely crippled in a car accident during his absence. She struggled to walk, had lost five inches from her height and had gained weight. McCain was in rough shape physically and psychologically, too. But here’s where it gets hard to swallow: He began (or resumed) womanizing and eventually left his handicapped wife for a beer heiress 18 years his junior.
Important to note that the ex-wife insists she supports McCain for president and bears no ill will. But this paragraph paints a picture that may haunt the Republican candidate:
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.
Ouch.
But getting back to my original thought regarding the morality question for Democrats and Republicans, here’s what I wonder: a) Can Democrats really use this as ammunition with a straight face when they let Clinton get away with repeated, well-documented philandering in the White House? and b) Can Republicans tout character (which they often tie to religious-based morality) as an important component if McCain lacked the character to do right by his wife?
Just wondering…..
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