McCain’s Blended Family

You don’t see much of them, but John McCain’s family is a microcosm of the modern American family.  No longer mom and dad and two kids and a dog, McCain’s children are the products of three marriages and three adoptions.  Let me explain.

When he married Carol, his first wife, he adopted her two kids, Doug and Andy, from her former marriage.  (Doug is now 48 and a pilot with American Air Lines.)

Then there is Sidney, his first-born, who was only 9 months old when he was captured.  She seems to be the  one most at odds with her father, not really meeting him until she was in elementary school. “In high school I was very rebellious. I needed to look at all sides. At least he would hear me out.”  Sidney is now an executive in the music industry, but she was friends with the singer Moby before she let it slip who her dad was.

When John divorced Carol, the kids were devastated, and did not reconcile for a number of years.  They did not attend his wedding to Cindy, but are on good terms now.

From his marriage to Cindy, he has daughter Meghan and sons Jack and Jimmy. And Bridgit, their adopted daughter from Bangladesh (now 16).  These children lived a very different life.  To begin with, their mother came from money.  And dad was home every weekend (though he missed a lot of weekday activities while working in Washington. He also makes special effort to spend even more time with his kids during vacation times.

John McCain has made peace with each of his children.  Andy now plays a key role in Cindy’s family-owned beer-distribution company in Phoenix.  Megan is with him on the campaign trail.  Jack (21) is in the Naval Academy, following in the family tradition. (Doug was also a Navy pilot.) Eighteen-year-old Jimmy is a Marine currently serving in Iraq.  Bridgit is a normal teenager in Phoneix.

The McCain family blends children from multiple marriages, but is otherwise very normal.  And like normal kids everywhere, they’re not in the public eye.

(Primary research source: Jennifer Steinhauer, “McCain Family:  Bridging 2 Marriages and 4 Decades, a large, close-knit brood” in the International Herald Tribune, December 27, 2007)

Palin “Right Choice” for Evangelicals

Last week, I reported Dr Richard Land’s endorsement of Sarah Palin as the person McCain should pick.  Friday, he reiterated his support, saying she is “straight out of veep central casting.”  He is being joined by other notable evangelical leaders.

According to a Washington Times article, Gary Bauer, formerly of the Family Research Council, said the choice was a “grand slam home run” and that the choice is “guaranteed to energize values voters.”

Even Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, who had refused to support McCain earlier, called Palin “an outstanding choice that should be extremely reassuring to the conservative base.”

Over on my side of the country, Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law, called the selection “an absolutely brilliant choice,”  adding his endorsement of her as “a woman of faith who has a strong position on life.”

Even Mike Huckabee, who never garnered support of Evangelical leaders, but had – and still commands – an army of committed and activist evangelical workers, called her selection ” a pleasant surprise.”  On his blog, he commented that “she also brings an important balance of understanding of the critical domestic issues that is needed and that the Democrats have ignored with their ticket.  Governor Palin is smart, authentic, tough, and a dynamic choice that will remind women that  they are not  welcome on the Democrat’s ticket, they have a place with Republicans.”

There’s so much right about Sarah Palin, and so little wrong.  No wonder Evanglicals are lining up behind her.