John and Cindy's 2000 Vote: The Matter Of The Children

There was an interesting moment in Thursday’s interview with Cindy McCain on the TODAY Show, especially in light of the intense buzz surrounding whether the McCains actually voted for Bush in 2000.  (This, in addition to Arianna Huffington’s psychological take-down of Mac’s hyena-like denial in front of O’Reilly.)

Referring to negative campaigning, the TODAY Show’s Ann Curry asked Cindy McCain:

“It’s six months to go before the election.  Are you prepared for the next six months knowing that that’s how it generally does go?”

If you watch the interview, McCain is mostly breezy, sometimes firm, but at this particular point, you can see the emotion in her eyes.  (The screen shot comes immediately after Curry says: “prepared for the next six months.”)

McCain answered: “Well, I’m never ready for those kinds of things…” then added, “especially when it involves my children.”

For a mother, given that the attacks involved her daughter, Bridget, it is not surprising she would answer the question that way.  However, if such feelings remain this live and close to the surface eight years later, could the sting be that separate and distinct from hard feelings toward Bush/Rove for perpetrating the attacks?

Following the interview, Curry told co-anchor Meredith Vieira she had asked McCain about charges she hadn’t voted for Bush in 2000, and that McCain told here it wasn’t true.  Cindy McCain’s pain here, however, makes it that much harder to believe that the attacks and her 2000 vote could be that exclusive of one another.

TODAY interview with Cindy McCain (video – MSNBC)

Cindy McCain ‘shocked, appalled’ about Myanmar (TODAY – MSNBC)

(screen shot: TODAY Show, via msnbc.msn.com)