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I’ve noted this on Tammy Radio and repeat it here: of all six people in the presidential race–the candidates and their spouses, there is only one I’m truly comfortable with being in the White House–Cindy McCain. Comparison among the spouses of the candidates, well, it’s ridiculous to even compare the three. Mrs. McCain loves this country, is grateful for it, is a decent, dignified person and can keep her pants on. I also like her better than I like her husband, but that was also the case for me regarding GW Bush and his wife in 2000 and 2004. While I am now not happy with President Bush and so many of his decisions, I have no regret for both of my votes for him.

All that said, we know about Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton and invariably have to open the windows because of the stink. Let’s clear that air a bit with getting to know Cindy McCain a little more. The Wall Street Journal has a profile of her, and it’s worth sharing, so here you go. This is one of the first interviews to address her addiction to pain killers over 15 years ago after back surgeries. I’ve also said this about President Bush and his conquering alcoholism– people who overcome addiction earn even more of my respect for the discipline it takes to get one’s life back. It’s not easy to do, and it illustrates remarkable strength of character.

Oh, and btw, Mrs. McCain will be one of the Guest Hosts on Monday’s “The View.” That pack of swine (the exception to the swine rule is Hasselbeck who is just ridiculously ineffective) just may learn a little bit about dignity that day.

Preference Aside, Cindy McCain Handles Limelight

On a recent balmy Sunday, John and Cindy McCain hosted the national press corps at their ranch here. Mrs. McCain’s touches were evident — the ceiling fans hung from tree branches, the art of their children displayed on the cabin’s walls, the Budweiser beer tap from her family’s business. Dogs she has adopted ran about…

The 53-year-old wife of Sen. McCain doesn’t seek the limelight. While the picture-perfect Mrs. McCain regularly introduces her husband at campaign events, she often retreats after her duties are done, donning her fully loaded iPod and typing away on her silver BlackBerry.

“The campaign gets to be a little too much for me,” she said in an interview. “I take some time off occasionally…and then I get back out.”… Although she says she wants to be a “traditional” first lady, Mrs. McCain has led a life that by any measure has been untraditional.

She heads one of the nation’s largest beer distributorships, an Anheuser-Busch Cos. franchise inherited from her father. She has sported “MS BUD” on her license plate, and from the campaign trail she uses her BlackBerry and cellphone to oversee this region’s rollout of Bud Lite Lime and to expand her corporate empire…

And about that drug addiction?

[In 1991] Mrs. McCain underwent two back surgeries, and she said she became addicted to painkillers. She resorted to stealing some drugs from a medical charity she had started and using others’ names for prescriptions, according to news reports at the time.

“I was trying to be the perfect woman,” Mrs. McCain said in interviews at the time. “That was the darkest period of my life.”

The Drug Enforcement Administration began an investigation of Mrs. McCain in 1994, but she avoided prosecution by paying a fine, performing community service in a soup kitchen and joining Narcotics Anonymous. She had to close her medical charity.

“Cindy faced up to her addiction,” Sen. McCain said.

Since coming clean, “I’ve never been secretive about it at all, because [talking about addiction] is part of the recovery process,” Mrs. McCain said. “It’s part of my life; it has made me a better person and certainly made me a better mother.”

Brava. Please do read the whole piece.