Obama or McCain? Michelle or Cindy?

In my last column, I rhapsodized about the possibility of First Lady Michelle Obama. Of course, it’s entirely possible the next First Lady won’t be a dark-skinned beauty but a cool blonde with piercing blue eyes. Cindy McCain, too, has the stuff of which First Ladies are made. But the 54-year old reminds me more of a Nancy Reagan or Barbara Bush than of a Jackie Kennedy or Hillary Clinton.

As luck would have it, the Americans have already run several opinion polls on the question of the First Lady. Results: 61 percent of voters partly judge the candidates based on their marital partners. And: 42 percent expressed skepticism, 25 percent were even negative about Michelle Obama. Only 29 percent had some problem with McCain’s better half, while “only” 10 percent said, “I can’t stand her.”

Does skin color play a role? 86 percent of African-American voters found Michelle Obama great. Among whites, it was only 42 percent. The ratio was even more blatant with Cindy McCain: Only 27 percent of African-Americans liked her, a further indication that the conflict between black and white in the USA is far from being resolved and will play an important role in the coming election.

But back to women of all colors in general. During the primaries, the first time I saw Cindy McCain standing next to her husband, 18 years older than she, I spontaneously thought, “My God, she’s so young. She doesn’t look a day over 40.” But then I had a weird thought: “She looks so cold, just like a mask. The sort of politician’s wife who doesn’t mix in society but says, “Stand by your man.”

After I dug a little deeper and got to know more about her, however, I quickly realized I had unjustly formed an opinion of her based on first appearances. She is certainly not the type of woman who marries a much older man for material reasons. She didn’t have to. She majored in education at USC and is wealthy in her own right. She is heir to the Budweiser beer empire (Anheuser-Busch) and is worth at least 100 million dollars. Last year alone, she netted another six million dollars.

When she met John McCain in 1979, she was 25 years young and he was 43 years mature. She was the All-American-Cowgirl, exactly the right match for the All-American Vietnamese War Hero. In her home state of Arizona, she was a rodeo queen and later in college a cheerleader who spurred her team to victory.

No wonder John and Cindy clicked right away. The senator quickly divorced his first wife and married the woman who remains at his side today.

But Cindy McCain is more than a wealthy politician’s wife. She is the mother of four children (one of them an adopted orphan from Bangladesh) and is a person who has suffered pain. She had several miscarriages and also suffered a near-fatal stroke in 2004. She has battled depression and an addiction to prescription drugs.

She found her way out of these crises by helping others. She explained in an interview, “I get involved all over the world. Land mine removal, medical care for children, poverty. And I will continue my involvement these things.”

In many respects, she’s the opposite of the buoyant Michelle Obama who almost seems like an actress and presumably will play a very active role as First Lady. Cindy McCain is more the classic observer, only advising her husband in privacy, shunning the limelight herself. The political scientist Calvin Jillson wrote, “She has the Nancy Reagan look.” An almost unapproachable gaze that misses nothing and never reveals what’s hidden behind it.

When it comes to supporting her husband, however, she can become quickly venomous. After Michelle Obama made her verbal gaffe saying she felt proud to be an American for the first time, Cindy coolly observed, “I don’t know about you, but I’m always proud of this country.” A sentiment that Americans still like.