McCain in Meridian

The Meridian Star writes: The national spotlight will once again be on Meridian today as Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain speaks in Meridian at the MSU-Riley Center. The speech will begin at 8:45 a.m., with doors opening an hour earlier. The event, which is open to the public, will take place in the historic theater, and "spill over" seating will be made available in the exhibit hall, where the speech will be broadcast live on two large screens. McCain arrived in Meridian Sunday to take in the "Wings Over Meridian" air show, appearing at Naval Air Station Meridian's McCain Field, which is named after the Senator's grandfather. CNN and other networks began broadcasting from downtown Meridian on Sunday in anticipation of McCain's visit. The CBS Early Show anchor is scheduled to be at the Riley Center between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. to cover the event, which is part of a 6 city "biographical" tour for McCain, who lived in Lauderdale County for about 3 years in the 1960 when he was a flight instructor at NAS-Meridian. (Read the Full Story Here)

Sunday night, McCain joined thousands at the air show in Meridian. (Video at WTOK; Video at WLBT)

The Star also shared recollections from Morele Rosenfeld of Meridian who knew Senator McCain when he was stationed at NAS Meridian.

"The John McCain that you know on television is not the John McCain that I knew," said Rosenfeld. "In his earlier life he was quite a party boy." The term party boy can bring up some rather un-dignified imagery, but McCain was a party boy in the sense that he was fun-loving and outgoing, Rosenfeld said, "He was handsome. He was fun. He was, he never met a stranger in his whole life ... He can be extremely dignified, but he's fun loving."

McCain has deep roots in Mississippi with several generations born in Carroll County on land that had been in his family since 1848. The last McCain to live on the property was John McCain's grandfather's brother, Joe McCain. "As a young boy I spent a couple summers in Mississippi visiting my Uncle Joe," McCain said. "My father’s naval career required us to move frequently, but here I could imagine what it must have been like for the McCains who came before me to be so connected to one place.”

Meridian Naval Air Station named McCain Air Field for John McCain's grandfather, John Sidney "Slew" McCain. John McCain's great-grandfather was Carroll County Sheriff and his brother, Henry Pinkney McCain, was a major general in the U.S. Army. He organized the draft for World War I. Camp McCain in Grenada is named for him.

One of Rosenfeld's favorite memories of McCain when he was in Meridian is when he commentated for fashion shows put on by wive's clubs at the Navy base. "He didn't know much about style and fashion, but he could sell more merchandise than I could if I stood on my head. And I'm a pretty good salesperson." Rosenfeld and her husband, Lewis, were the only civilians in a military supper club that included McCain and his then wife, Carol. She says that McCain's visit to Meridian "brings back the very good times all of us had together." At the time, Rosenfeld had a young daughter, Karen, who, being excited to know a person who had some celebrity status because of his time as a Prisoner of War, collected newspaper clippings and other memorabilia of McCain.

Rosenfeld said many of McCain's friends thought he would never get married, so much so that his wife kept their wedding pictures in the guest bathroom. "She knew that they would eventually wind up in the bathroom, and that was her way of making sure their guests knew that they were married." It was a surprise to many, Rosenfeld said, that McCain became a politician, "everybody thought that he was going to continue in the footsteps of his father and his grandfather, who were both admirals," she said.

But after McCain sustained permanent injuries as a POW in Vietnam, Rosenfeld said, "I think he realized there was no way he was going to make admiral ... But it looks like he's going to do them one better," she cheerfully added, "He's going to be commander in chief." Although Rosenfeld wouldn't have predicted that McCain's career would include anything but military service, she said she wasn't surprised to hear that he had become a U.S. Senator. "John could do anything he set his mind to do, which is evidenced by the fact that he survived what he survived." Rosenfeld said she would not have expected McCain to make a campaign stop in Meridian, but can understand why he would. "His first daughter was born here," she said, and, "Well, let's face it, he had an awfully good time." She also said she doesn't believe McCain has changed as much over the years as he appears to have done on television. "He's military through and through in his training," she said, "He says the right thing at the right time. But I can't imagine that with his close friends he doesn't let his hair down like he used to." (Read the Full Story Here)

After Mississippi, the bio tour heads to Alexandria, Va., in suburban Washington, where McCain will visit his high school. On Wednesday, he heads to Annapolis, Md., where four generations of McCain men attended the Naval Academy: his grandfather, father and son, as well as McCain himself. Then it’s off to Florida, where McCain did his flight training. The tour wraps up in Prescott, Ariz., where one of his heroes, Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, kicked off his 1964 presidential campaign. Along the way, McCain plans to work in plenty of time for fund-raisers — and a side trip to New York to appear on the “Late Show with David Letterman” Tuesday night (WSJ Blog).