The Lonesome Trail

By Ariel Levy
Issue: Sept 15

Cindy McCain is worried that the role of First Lady might cut into her humanitarian work abroad. She spends several weeks a year traveling with Operation Smile, an organization that provides surgery for children with cleft palates.

Cindy does not care for smiling much herself.

Here Levy writes of Cindy's appearance at a rally, clearly comparing her to a pig, pit bull and/or hockey mom: "Cindy McCain stood by her husband’s side, her eyes rendered invisible by sunglasses, her mouth a lipsticked slash across her face—a straight line, unsmiling."

Still, the woman does know firsthand how a surgery can change your life; she became severely addicted to painkillers after undergoing surgery for a ruptured disk.

John didn't know about the drug abuse. He also had no idea that his wife was taking flying lessons, or bringing home a smiling infant (post-op) from Bangladesh.

"McCain zigzags constantly between the two roles she was brought up with: she is the brave, individualistic Westerner who can ride the range and fly a plane and then the polite, fragile lady of the house with the flawless outfits and the duct-taped mouth," Levy writes. "These are very different roles, but they both require privacy."