Friday, May 09, 2008

Cindy McCain's Prenup With Us

Democrats clamoring for the Republican candidate's wife to release her tax returns are setting themselves up to look petty and peevish in an election that should be about Iraq, the US economy and our place in the world.

Voters know that Cindy McCain is a very rich woman who has inherited an estimated $100 million. Is hounding her for more detail any more admirable than the clamor in 2004 for Theresa Heinz Kerry to show us the money?

When they married, the McCains apparently signed a prenuptial agreement to keep their money separate, as many couples do in second marriages. Do we need to be more involved in her finances than her husband is?

Yes, yes, he traveled in her corporate jet during the campaign, and we should be sure that he did it as legally as any candidate uses such advantages.

But otherwise, it's hard to see how Mrs. McCain's money is any of the public's business. That she uses some of it for humanitarian purposes reflects well on her, but that too doesn't have much bearing on whether her husband is qualified to be president.

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