Cindy McCain has followed in her daughter’s footsteps by openly supporting gay marriage rights, despite the obvious position of her husband John McCain.

Story from AP (Courtesy of Yahoo! News):

McCain’s daughter Meghan distanced herself from her father’s stance last summer when she posed for an ad for NOH8, a gay rights campaign seeking to defeat Prop 8. Now his wife Cindy is joining in the effort and is also appearing in an ad for NOH8……

Cindy McCain isn’t the first political spouse to do this, however.  During the 2007 Democratic Primary, Elizabeth Edwards stated that she’s “completely comfortable with gay marriage” even though her husband, John, then a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, was steadfastly against it. Michelle Obama has hinted at her support, saying in a speech that connected the gay rights struggle to civil rights: “The world as it is should be one that rejects discrimination of all kinds.”

Even Laura Bush pushed back against her husband’s aggressive advocacy of a federal gay marriage ban. In an interview with Fox News in 2006, the former first lady said, “I don’t think it should be used as a campaign tool, obviously. It requires a lot of sensitivity to just talk about the issue – a lot of sensitivity.”

Weird.  It seems the wives of male politicians are more likely to support gay marriage rights than the politicians themselves, which is about in line with the national trend.  According to a 2008 Newsweek study, women were about 44% likely to support gay marriage, with men hovering at 34%, a solid 10% difference.   Maybe men are more afraid of seeming gay if supportive of gay rights?  No, that can’t be it.