McCain Would Never Embarrass U.S., Wife Tells S.C. Veterans

Cindy McCain told a crowd of veterans Friday that if her husband, John, is elected president, “we won’t ever do anything to embarrass the United States.”

McCain stood in for her husband at the start of a South Carolina campaign swing. Sen. McCain, an Arizonan who is seeking the GOP nomination, was in Washington for the Senate’s vote on a $792-billion GOP tax cut bill.

The 45-year-old former schoolteacher and mother of four talked about her husband’s military service and how she would want him in charge if her children serve in the military.

“I’m a full-time mother,” she said, adding that her top goal is to “raise decent children” who, she hopes, will serve in the military.

“I’ve always taken a more traditional role in the campaign,” she said in an interview with Associated Press. But she’s not critical of political spouses who take a more active role in policy, such as Hillary Rodham Clinton. “That’s their choice,” she said.

McCain serves on the board of her family business, a beer wholesale operation, but doesn’t work there on a daily basis. Her first priority has been raising her children.

“I made the choice to stay at home,” she said.

If McCain wins the White House, she said that as first lady she would focus on issues such as child health care, adoption and encouraging youth volunteerism.