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Two Stories That Pushed Some Buttons

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A candidate for president or vice president gives up his or her privacy and a spouse's privacy as well. A presidential or vice presidential spouse holds a taxpayer-supported position and is part of the package being scrutinized by voters.

The episode was obviously painful for the McCain family. John McCain said he never knew of her addiction; Michael Dukakis said he never knew that his wife was addicted to diet pills. Cindy McCain blamed her addiction on pain she suffered after back surgery and the pressure of her husband's involvement in an ethics investigation.

Still, Cindy McCain is not the nominee. Another way to handle the story -- especially in a hotly contested, partisan election atmosphere -- would have been as a sidebar to a profile of Cindy McCain or in a story about the McCains' long-distance marriage.

The story badly needed her voice, but she refused repeated requests for an interview, as did the McCain campaign. The story lacked the detail only she could have given it; she could have cleared up any inconsistencies. It could have been a more revealing and sympathetic story.

To correct an error in my column last week: The Sept. 10 McCain-Palin rally was in Fairfax City, not Fairfax County.

Deborah Howell can be reached at 202-334-7582 or atombudsman@washpost.com.

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