Pride (or lack thereof) is one thing, but when the wife is FUNDING the candidate, it's a different story entirely. Michelle Obama isn't a power-player in the business world. She's a pretty common lawyer who works for some pretty common people. At least she used to, I haven't followed up on her current career.

Cindy McCain is a holder of some serious capital and lately, has been very interested in keeping her money and her business partners secret. Also, consider the fact that the Republicans are planning the "elitist" label for Obama during the general. It's gonna be hard to toss that around flagrantly when the McCain joint accounts have well over 150 million to wallow around in.

Should we care what the first ladies think and say? Not really. Should we care what the first ladies and possibly the candidates have access to, and who they're doing business with under the table? Absolutely.

Should Cindy McCain release her tax forms? Yes. Kerry's wife did it in 2004 under Republican pressure, and they were in about the same position that McCain is in now, financially and politically.

This, however, follows right along with the Republican idea that they think they are not bound by the same rules they try to inflict on others.

"Should we care?"

I don't. This is a non-issue to me. First, it's the wife of the candidate, not the candidate himself. Second, it's easy to miss the Sudanese connection. The American Funds' EuroPacific Growth Fund and Capital World Growth and Income Fund? I'd have no clue that these contained Sudanese related companies if they were in my portfolio. Finally, once she learned of the connection, she did the right thing and divested.

When someone runs for office, their family doesn't forfeit their right to privacy. If a family member later runs for office, we can scrutinize their financials at that time.

I also hate this sort of reporting. The media goes on a massive fishing expedition, trying to dig up any negative minutia about every presidential candidate. It's the same BS as the flag-pin and sniper-fire 'stories'. All they do is distract from the issues that will actually impact Americans.

I don't care about Cindy McCain's finances, I care that McCain is anti-choice and wants to limit women's reproductive rights. I care that McCain doesn't support the Constitutional rights of all Americans. I care that McCain will use a political litmus test when nominating judges. I care that he wants # Free access to assault riffles free access to high-capacity ammunition clips and armor-piercing ammunition. I care that his tax plan will further shrink the middle class!

"McCain's wive divested in two obscurely-named mutual funds when she discovered some of the companies are Sudanese" just doesn't register in comparison.