WASHINGTON -- Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain
share a dislike of rough-edged U.S. politics. Each tried to
talk her spouse out of running for the White House.
Obama, wife of Democratic candidate Barack Obama, and
McCain, who is married to Republican John McCain, are both
known for an elegant sense of style, lending glamour to their
husbands' campaigns.
McCain posed in size zero jeans for the latest issue of
Vogue. Obama, who has also appeared in the fashion magazine,
was praised by style writers for the violet sheath dress she
wore to her husband's Democratic nomination victory rally and
has been compared to former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
But the aspiring first ladies have plenty of differences.
Obama, 44, is a Princeton- and Harvard-educated lawyer
raised by blue-collar parents on the working-class South Side
of Chicago. She would be the first African American U.S. first
lady.
Career: Obama gave up her job as a vice president at the University of Chicago Medical Center to campaign with her husband.
Charles Rex Arbogast, AP
Career: McCain is the chairman of her family's business, Hensley & Co., one of the country's largest distributors for Anheuser-Busch. She's also involved with several children's health care organizations.
Mary Altaffer, AP
Childhood and Education: Michelle Obama, 44, grew up on the South Side of Chicago. She earned her undergraduate degree from Princeton and her law degree from Harvard.
Scott Olson, Getty Images
Childhood and Education: Cindy McCain, 54, who was raised in a wealthy Phoenix family, has a master's degree in special education from the University of Southern California.
Win McNamee, Getty Images
Family: The Obamas have two daughters, Malia, 9, and Sasha, 6.
Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images
Family: The McCains have four children together -- Meghan, 23, pictured above with her parents; Jack, 22; Jim, 20; and Bridget, 16. John McCain also has three children from his first marriage.
Charles Dharapak, AP
Marriage: Michelle Robinson married Barack Obama in October 1992. The couple met while working for a Chicago law firm.
Obama for America / AP
Marriage: Cindy Hensley married John McCain in May 1980. It was the second marriage for McCain, who is 18 years older than his wife.
Corbis
Style on the Trail: Obama has been known for being strong-minded and outspoken during her husband's campaign. Here, the couple bump fists before his speech on the night he earned enough delegates to claim the Democratic nomination.
Scott Olson, Getty Images
Style on the Trail: McCain "is more in the classic mold of the candidate's wife on the campaign trail," said one political scientist. She's been less likely to speak out on the trail.
Alex Wong, Getty Images
Obama talks often on the campaign trail about being a
working mother. Until recently, she juggled a job as a hospital
executive with raising two young daughters and lending support
to her 46-year-old husband's political aspirations.
The strong-minded Obama exudes confidence and is an
accomplished public speaker. But her penchant for outspokenness
has also drawn some criticism.
McCain, 54, the Arizona senator's second wife, is reserved
and seems far less comfortable in the limelight when she
campaigns with her husband, who is 18 years her senior.
RODEO QUEEN
The blond, blue-eyed McCain is a former rodeo queen and
cheerleader who holds a master's degree in special education
from the University of Southern California. She grew up in a
wealthy family in Phoenix and is heiress to Hensley & Co, one
of the largest U.S. distributors for brewing giant
Anheuser-Busch.
Last month, she released a tax return showing she made
about $6 million in 2006.
McCain has raised four children, including a daughter
Bridget, 16, whom she adopted from Mother Teresa's orphanage in
Bangladesh. McCain has traveled the globe as part of her
charitable work.
McCain's deferential manner puts her in the company of more
traditional first ladies such as Nancy Reagan and Laura Bush.
"She is more in the classic mold of the candidate's wife on
the campaign trail," said Calvin Jillson, a political scientist
at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
He said McCain has her own version of the "Nancy Reagan
stare," the adoring gaze that the former first lady perfected.
"If you look at Michelle Obama, it appears that throughout
their married life, she and her husband have been very much
equals," Jillson said. Her image as an equal partner was on
display with the celebratory fist-bump the Obamas shared on the
night he clinched the nomination last week.
America has had nontraditional first ladies before. They
included Rosalynn Carter, wife of Jimmy Carter who sat in on
Cabinet meetings, and Hillary Clinton, who was named by her
husband to lead a health-care task force.
Obama met her husband through her work as a corporate
lawyer and is his closest adviser, although associates have
described her role as less of a policy-oriented one than that
of a confidante who provides a reality check.
She has acquired an image as a tough-minded task-master.
In a favorite line on the campaign trail, the Illinois
senator says his wife often reminds him that he's "not a
perfect man."
When asked about his flaws during one campaign stop, Obama
advised the questioner to "talk to my wife."
"She will have a pretty long list," he said, starting with
his failure to hang up his clothes properly.
CRITICISM
But some pundits have put some of Obama's criticism of her
husband -- that he snores and leaves socks on the floor -- in
the category of "too much information."
In one comment seized upon by conservative Internet
bloggers, Michelle Obama remarked, "For the first time in my
adult life, I am really proud of my country."
That led critics to accuse her of being unpatriotic, saying
that her comment made it appear she had not been proud of her
country before her husband ran for president.
A day later, Cindy McCain told a campaign rally, "I am
proud of my country. I don't know about you, if you heard those
words earlier -- I am very proud of my country."
But she too has drawn criticism. When she refused to
release her tax returns critics said her lack of transparency
was at odds with her husband's message of openness in
government. McCain eventually relented.
She has also talked openly about her addiction in the early
1990s to painkillers, originally prescribed for back pain,
which she at first kept secret from her husband and family.
McCain has also made a full recovery from a stroke that
nearly killed her four years ago.
Both women serve a crucial role of giving emotional support
to their spouses amid the grueling slog of the campaign. Barack
Obama's mood brightens visibly when his wife joins him on the
campaign trail. McCain has a similar effect on her husband.
(Additional reporting by Tim Gaynor; editing by Patricia
Zengerle)
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