TresSugar

Campaign Kids on Access Hollywood, Blogging: Right Roles?

CitizenSugar — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:49:29 -0700

The Obama kids (Malia and Sascha) had a first this week: a full-family interview on Access Hollywood. Though if the girls had any plans for an encore, dad has put his foot down this morning. Obama regrets the interview, saying that he doesn't think the exposure is "healthy" and that the family got carried away because the interview was on Malia's birthday, and added that famous dad-ism, "it won't happen again."

The Obama girls aren't the only campaign kids in and out of the spotlight. Meghan McCain, though quite a bit older than her Democratic counterparts, is no stranger to the stump. She has her high-profile blog, plans to author a children's book, and isn't a stranger to red-carpet events - she's even been in GQ, where it came out that she voted for John Kerry. By contrast, her brothers (Jack and Jimmy) are military men, with Jack in the Naval Academy and pretty publicity-shy, and Jimmy who returned from Iraq in February, and whose service is famously off-the-table on the campaign trail.

What's the right role for a kid on the campaign trail? Was Obama right to let the girls do the interview? Should the candidates let their kids choose their level of involvement as it appears McCain has?

And here's this: did you know Obama is actually "pretty conservative?" Apparently it's true - when it comes to his gum. To check out the Obama kids on Access Hollywood, read more.

Want more about what kind of life awaits the next White House-bound kid? This piece has all the juicy details - including this which I love from Susan Ford (Bales): she walked into a meeting her dad was having with Henry Kissinger, then secretary of state. "I walked in and said: 'Hi, Mr. Secretary. Dad, I need my allowance and Mom doesn't have any cash.'" The leader of the free world ponied up.

On the Newsstand: A Trip on the Straight Talk Express

CitizenSugar — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:30:23 -0800

I learned one very important thing from this week's New Yorker on John McCain: Jack. Is. Single. Putting to rest those nasty rumors of a lady friend, the Navy Mid-shipman, son of McCain is unattached - or so goes the fast and free and bracingly loose dialog that flies around the campaign bus.

And yes, there were other tidbits, too. The piece sought to answer the question, "can John McCain reinvent Republicanism?" While I'm not sure that question was answered I did leave with a greater sense of who the man is behind the scenes - which translates directly to the candidate we see on stage.

Though McCain clearly comes across as the funny uncle who repeats jokes, his vigor and unflinching candor (which alternately gets him in trouble and provides his sterling reputation for honesty) was most apparent here:

In person, he is all energy and motion. At one moment, bursting into laughter, he exuberantly explains why, after “a short period of waterboarding to find out what they did in their absence,” he would take back some of the staffers who fled his campaign at its low point. At another, he cracks up over one of his own familiar jokes.

To see how McCain upholds the reputation of the Straight Talk Express, read more.

It is bracing to drop in on the McCain campaign after covering the overly-managed productions of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The Democratic candidates rarely speak to the travelling press. McCain not only packs his bus with reporters (whom he often greets with an affectionate “Hello, jerks!”) but talks until the room is filled with the awkward silence of journalists with no more questions.

The piece is a biggie, but worth more than worth the read.

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Jack McCain - Chip Off the Ol' Block?

CitizenSugar — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:00:41 -0800

Okay, usually when articles clock in the thousands of words, I...start skimming? That did not happen with this exclusive interview with John McCain's Navy son Jack. Scout.com sat down this week with the hopeful first son, and talked about everything from girls to demerits. Here are some choice comparisons Jack made between father and son:

My dad told me there is one thing McCain’s are good at and that is not giving into pressure, and honor – keeping our honor regardless of what happens. He then said, ‘Don’t lie, cheat or steal – anything else is fair game.

I enjoy [campaigning] very much. But [my dad] keeps a schedule – I mean I’m 21 and go to the Naval Academy and he outruns me with no problem.

And what of that fabled McCain temper?

Growing up, if I screwed up, I’d know it. He was never cruel about anything. He never got overly angry. He was always level-headed. It cracks me up when I hear about this [alleged] crazy temper because I’ve lived with him for almost 22 years and I’ve never seen it.

I suppose the argument could be made that hot subject matter = prolonged attention span, but I'll let you be the judge of that.

Pardon For Boxing Champ's Race-Based Conviction?

LibertySugar — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 07:00:00 -0700

The US House of Representatives is asking President Bush to issue a posthumous pardon of professional boxer, and one of the first celebrity athletes, Jack Johnson. When Jack Johnson became the first-ever black heavyweight boxing champion in 1908, many in the country went looking for "The Great White Hope" - a white boxer who could defeat Johnson.

In 1910, undefeated champion James J. Jeffries came out of retirement to fight Johnson, saying: "I am going into this fight for the sole purpose of proving that a white man is better than a Negro." Johnson won the fight, garnering the $225,000 prize, and race riots broke out across the country.

After trying to convict him for relations with a white woman who went on to become his wife, in 1920 a federal court convicted Johnson of violating the Mann Act, which prohibited transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes. He spent a year in a federal penitentiary.

The House resolution states: "He was a victim of the times and we need to set the record straight - clear his name - and recognize him for his groundbreaking contribution to the sport of boxing." If it passes the House, the Senate will vote on a similar resolution sponsored by John McCain.

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John McCain Accepts the Republican Nomination!

CitizenSugar — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:16:18 -0700

Since I made up my mind to vote for John McCain, I've been waiting for this night - and by the sounds of the crowd, an arena full of people agreed with me. The build up to John McCain was appropriately quick and tough and everyone was beyond anxious to get to the goods and see how McCain would follow Palin's speech. It felt different in the crowd. Yesterday's raucous relief was replaced with an enthusiastic solemnity.

The line up was a slate of friends and leaders who testified to McCain's readiness to lead and protect the country. Sen. Lindsay Graham had some particularly strong words:

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Barack Obama doesn't care. I'm just saying - he doesn't get it. Not once was Barack Obama's eloquent voice ever raised in support of Victory in Iraq. Not once was it used to rally our troops in battle. Instead, he inspired those who supported retreat and would have accepted our defeat.

The security theme continued up to the main event. To see who else spoke, and what McCain said, read more.

Former PA Governor and Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge said:

Who but John McCain has the experience . . the sheer will . . the steady hand. . . and the informed judgment to advance our economic and political interests during these perilous 21st century times? And who but John McCain - and only John McCain - can negotiate from a position of strength and proven ability - because he's already earned the trust . . .respect . . . and admiration of our friends and allies around the world? And I suspect he has the attention of those who would oppose us.

By the time Cindy and family (and Jack!) came out, the crowd was primed. Then John McCain gave the speech he's been waiting years to give: accepting the nomination. With an attempt by Code Pink to disrupt the speech promptly drowned by the crowd's "USA!" the crowd was inspired. On the rebuilt stage that thrust him among the crowd, this said it all for me:

I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else’s. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn’t my own man anymore. I was my country’s.

You had me at "country first." The crowd drowned out the last minute of the speech with a deafening roar, and I finally got my balloon drop. God bless America, indeed.

What did you think? Did McCain do his job? Was the speech a winner?

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Marine Gives McCain His Purple Heart: True Story of Support

CitizenSugar — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:15:02 -0700

This piece in the National Review this morning struck me deep down. Amid the rallies of thousands, and the ads and jabs and attacks of the waning days of the campaign, this story is what I want to remember most. It honestly doesn't require any embellishment - I'll let the Marine Sergeant's words speak for themselves. “I just gave John McCain my Purple Heart. I said, ‘I want to give this to you, sir, as a reminder that we want you to keep your promise to bring us home in victory and honor, so it will mean something."

The Marine Sgt. is Jack Eubanks, a 22-year-old was wounded in badly in Iraq in 2005 and fought 11 months of recuperation before volunteering to go back in 2007. He was wounded again in a similar way and now walks with a cane as he teaches Marine recruits at Quantico.

Eubanks says he saw huge progress in Iraq between his two tours, and he gave McCain his purple heart so that he might have it as a remembrance of the wishes of one Marine close to his heart. He said he's very anxious of Obama's plan for Iraq. “I think Obama’s just going to pull everyone home as soon as he can, despite what’s going on over there. I just don’t want it to turn into another Vietnam or worse where everything we fought for, and all my buddies who died over there, it was just for nothing.”

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