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"Senator McCain was interviewed twice for this article--first on May 17 in New York City, and then by phone on July 30. GLAMOUR: I brought for you, Senator, a copy of a book Glamour published last year; it&amp;#x27;s a collection by one of our columnists, Mariane Pearl. She traveled the world meeting extraordinary women of courage; the chapter you&amp;#x27;re looking at is a profile of a young woman, Somaly Mam, who grew up as a sex slave and now has dedicated her whole life to getting other kids out of that. JOHN MCCAIN: I gave a speech just a week or so ago about human trafficking--that we should condition our relations with countries on the basis of their handling of this issue. And you know, the interesting thing is, a lot of this human trafficking [happens] in what people believe are the most perfect...the most sophisticated places in the world. Paris. Berlin. London. Disgraceful! And 15,000 to 18,000 young women come into this country as part of that every year. GLAMOUR: In your books on courage, you place female heroes solidly alongside decorated male war heroes. There must have been women in your life who got you thinking about the power that a courageous woman can have. JM: My mother very much so, because my father, a naval officer, was gone a lot of the time. Most of World War II, a lot of the Korean War and then just because of the nature of his profession...So my mother really was the one who raised our family. And that&amp;#x27;s not unique; it was true of military families. She would drive us across country, throw us all in the car because of my dad&amp;#x27;s change of station.... She still, at 96, travels extensively. GLAMOUR: Is it true she drove through Europe herself? JM: Yes. She drove through Europe herself. One time, she was...driving across country and was apprehended in Flagstaff, Arizona, going 112 miles per hour. [Laughs.] GLAMOUR: Was she repentant? JM: She just said there was no traffic and she was in a hurry. [Laughs.] It might have been 106, but it was over 100...Christmas before last she wanted to drive around France, so she flew to Paris and tried to rent a car, and they told her she was too old, so she bought a car and drove around France. GLAMOUR: Speaking of your mother being 96, are you aware of a website called things youngerthanmccain.com? JM: [Laughs.] Yes. It&amp;#x27;s hilarious. GLAMOUR: I learned that Scrabble and the Golden Gate Bridge and also the area code are all younger than John McCain. JM: Yes, indeed. Not to mention the Internet...maybe even color TV. I&amp;#x27;m sure. I&amp;#x27;m sure. Let&amp;#x27;s not go into it. [Laughs.] GLAMOUR: Well, on to more serious topics. Before this interview we asked our readers to submit questions, and many came from women in the military. Within the armed forces, there are still certain combat roles that are closed to women [such as] serving on submarine crews and in the Army infantry. Do you feel it&amp;#x27;s right to keep women out of those positions? JM: I think this policy needs to be reevaluated constantly.... We have more and more evidence of greater abilities of women in combat. Also...this conflict is everywhere; we have had a large number of women wounded and killed in Iraq and in Afghanistan. I&amp;#x27;m for integrating women as much as possible--with one exception: For example, in Baghdad today, a male combat infantryman puts on 50 pounds of body armor, then another 40 or 50 pounds of military equipment. I want to make sure that women are able to also do that. Now, I&amp;#x27;m not saying women are physically weak. Some of the strongest [people] I have ever known in my life are women.... I just want to make sure that they&amp;#x27;re able to carry out these missions in the most effective fashion.... Women have proven to [everyone&amp;#x27;s] satisfaction as pilots, as combat medics, in any other role they&amp;#x27;ve been in, that they&amp;#x27;re perfectly capable, and in some ways not only capable but superior. GLAMOUR: You come from a tremendous military tradition yourself. And your sons have carried that on. But how would you feel if your daughter Meghan, or in a few years, Bridget, wanted to join the armed forces? JM: I can&amp;#x27;t think of anything that would make me more proud than that. GLAMOUR: And from a reader, this question: What would you tell your daughter if she wanted to run for president? JM: I think it would be wonderful, and I&amp;#x27;d like to give credit to other women in recent history who have sought the presidency. I&amp;#x27;d like to give special credit to Senator Hillary Clinton, who has been an incredibly effective candidate and a role model for other women who seek public office. GLAMOUR: Was Senator Clinton treated fairly on the campaign trail as a woman? JM: You know, I don&amp;#x27;t know because I&amp;#x27;m not objective enough to make the judgment. I simply don&amp;#x27;t know. But I know the one thing that I try to avoid in my campaigns is feeling sorry for myself. It&amp;#x27;s easy to do, pick up the paper this morning, read a story that&amp;#x27;s negative, oh, my God, they&amp;#x27;re picking on me. You just can&amp;#x27;t do that. You just can&amp;#x27;t do that. But I admire Senator Clinton&amp;#x27;s tenacity, her knowledge of the issues. GLAMOUR: Right now, so much of the youth momentum seems to be for Senator Barack Obama. How can you persuade people in their twenties that the Republican party is a party that represents them? JM: Well, first of all, I don&amp;#x27;t think there&amp;#x27;s any doubt that the Republican brand is hurting right now. I mean, to say anything different would not be straight talk. I believe I&amp;#x27;ve got to go to venues that young people go to, whether it be the Jon Stewart show or an MTV town hall or Saturday Night Live. And of course, that means the Internet in a variety of ways. But then, once I&amp;#x27;m there, I have to get and keep their attention [so that] I can outline my vision for the future of this country and how I think that I can make sure that they inherit a safer and more prosperous country. I admire what Senator Obama has done in energizing young people. But...I think I can compete for young America&amp;#x27;s votes. GLAMOUR: Meghan drives a Prius. Is [the environment] an issue that the two of you talk about? JM: Yeah. And we talk a lot about climate change. And I&amp;#x27;ve been involved in it for a long period of time. I&amp;#x27;ve proposed legislation with Senator Joe Lieberman. I&amp;#x27;ve been heavily engaged. I&amp;#x27;ve traveled this globe from the Antarctic to the Arctic, to native Alaskan villages that are falling into the ocean, to Greenland, to the Brazilian rain forest, to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia...I know the environmental issues.... There is no doubt that we have two choices. One: Suppose we do nothing. Then we may have handed our children and our grandchildren a planet that&amp;#x27;s permanently damaged. [But] suppose we adopt green technologies and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Then all we&amp;#x27;ve done is given them a greener planet.... I&amp;#x27;m convinced from everything I&amp;#x27;ve seen that climate change is real, and maybe even worse than some of us had anticipated years ago when we got into it. GLAMOUR: One of the things that comes up when we hear from our readers is, of course, health care. Under your plan, individuals might be buying insurance directly from insurers; some critics point out this will put women at a disadvantage. Younger women make less money but incur higher health care costs because of their reproductive systems. They go to the doctor more often and could, as a result, be shut out of health care more than men. Is there anything in your plan that would help protect against that? JM: Well, the problem with health care in America today is not the quality. It&amp;#x27;s the cost. And every young man or woman is facing a bankrupt Medicare system that will not be there when they reach retirement age. And skyrocketing health care costs make it less and less available or affordable. Senator Obama wants to have greater government involvement. I want to give those young women--so many of them are small business people who have no health insurance today--an [annual] $5,000 refundable tax credit, and [you can] go across America and find the policy that you want. [McCain&amp;#x27;s plan would provide a $2,500 tax credit for individuals and $5,000 for families, and would allow Americans to comparison shop for lower-premium insurance from states other than the one they live in.] Now, one of your readers is going to respond, &amp;quot;Well, that&amp;#x27;s not enough money.&amp;quot; Well, it&amp;#x27;s a lot.... It&amp;#x27;s $5,000 more than they have today. And they can make a choice.... And finally, there are certain Americans that are &amp;quot;uninsurables.&amp;quot; And [for] those people, we&amp;#x27;re going to have to have government-approved plans ... that gets them health insurance [for] pre-existing conditions, chronic diseases. We&amp;#x27;re going to have to sit down with the governors and the legislatures and...establish a pool so that we can care for them. We will have every American have affordable and available health care. GLAMOUR: I want to ask about reproductive rights. Twenty-three percent of your pro-choice female supporters believe that you are for a woman&amp;#x27;s right to choose abortion, which is not accurate. Can you explain your position on abortion? Do you believe Roe v. Wade should be overturned? JM: I believe that Roe v. Wade was a very bad decision that should have not ever been in the United States Supreme Court. I am pro-life. I have a long record of being pro-life. I believe that there are more and more Americans that understand the sanctity of human life. A follow-up on abortion. GLAMOUR: Senator, you&amp;#x27;ve made it clear that you think we should have members of the Supreme Court who are interpreting the Constitution strictly. JM: But, let me add, I have never and will never impose a litmus test on them. I want them to have the philosophy of interpreting the Constitution strictly, but I will never ask for a position on a specific issue. I don&amp;#x27;t think that&amp;#x27;s fair to the nominees or the country... What is important to me is a proven record, such as Justice Roberts has and Justice Alito. GLAMOUR: If Roe v. Wade were overturned and the decision went back to the states, and some of the states criminalized abortion, in the case that an abortion is performed, who should go to jail, if anyone? JM: I&amp;#x27;ve never believed that a doctor should go to jail for that. And I have consistently stated that. We have to change the culture in America as far as the sanctity of human life. The fact is that we are, thanks to medical technology, able to save little babies and human life earlier and earlier in stages of pregnancy.... I&amp;#x27;ll never forget Mother Teresa being at a national prayer day breakfast and [saying] &amp;quot;If you don&amp;#x27;t want these children, give them to me.&amp;quot; And so I am pro-life...I am convinced that life begins at conception. GLAMOUR: Last year you said that the Republican platform on abortion should change so that it did include an exception for cases of rape and incest and to save the life of the mother. JM: Yes. GLAMOUR: Is that still something that you believe? JM: Yes. My position has always been: exceptions of rape, incest and the life of the mother. GLAMOUR: Would you encourage that platform to be changed this summer at the convention? JM: Yes.... And by the way, I think that&amp;#x27;s the view of most people, that rape, incest, the life of the mother are issues that have to be considered. [For an update on McCain&amp;#x27;s position, see Rape Victims and Abortion: Where McCain Stands.] GLAMOUR: One reader noted that you&amp;#x27;ve called abortion a &amp;quot;human tragedy,&amp;quot; and you&amp;#x27;ve proposed strengthening organizations that provide services and support to pregnant mothers in need. If elected president, do you have a specific plan to do that? JM: There are organizations...that encourage adoption. And I strongly support those. I also know that there are thousands of parents in the United States who want to adopt children. And I&amp;#x27;ll do everything that I can to match them up, and hopefully we could make sure that young parents have that option available to them--of adoption, rather than abortion. GLAMOUR: What about federal funding for programs that would encourage young women not to become pregnant to begin with? I&amp;#x27;m thinking both of comprehensive sex education and of family planning services. I know you&amp;#x27;ve expressed doubts about both of those things in the past. JM: I would encourage any program...for a young woman to practice abstinence, et cetera. But some of these programs that you&amp;#x27;ve described have parts of their program that I don&amp;#x27;t support. GLAMOUR: You mean the teaching of birth control information to teens? JM: Oh, there&amp;#x27;s various aspects of it. I&amp;#x27;d have to examine each one.... But obviously, I would do everything I can to encourage abstinence among young women, and that we not have unwanted pregnancies. GLAMOUR: In 2005 you voted not to allocate $100 million to reduce the pregnancy rate via family planning and public education. Is there anything you want to say to help young women understand why that would not be something you&amp;#x27;d support? JM: Except that I don&amp;#x27;t support...obviously, I don&amp;#x27;t support abortion. [The legislation in question did not fund abortion; the McCain campaign later clarified that he opposed it in part because it allocated funds for emergency contraception but not for abstinence-only programs.] GLAMOUR: You were asked at a press event about insurance companies that don&amp;#x27;t cover contraception but cover Viagra. Can you clarify your position on whether insurance should be required to cover birth control? JM: Under my plan, that decision will be made by the person who purchases the insurance. You&amp;#x27;ll choose a plan based on whatever is included in the insurance policy. GLAMOUR: So it would not be an issue that you would like to see legislation address in any way? JM: It&amp;#x27;s just my philosophy of how we reform health care in America that the insured would purchase the policy that covers whatever aspects they want to be covered by the policy. GLAMOUR: Back to adoption, I found very moving the story of how you and Cindy adopted Bridget. Cindy traveled to one of Mother Teresa&amp;#x27;s orphanages in Bangladesh, brought Bridget back here for an operation, and decided almost spontaneously to adopt her. What was that moment like for you? JM: It was very moving. [Here] was a child who had an incredibly severe cleft palate, who, at least in the view of the nuns there, was not going to survive. And Cindy...brought Bridget home and handed her to me. It was a very moving and touching experience. Bridget has enriched our life. So I&amp;#x27;m very grateful to have Bridget in our lives, and I&amp;#x27;m very proud of Cindy for what she did. GLAMOUR: Can you share what you feel are the main challenges in young women&amp;#x27;s lives, and how you would address them better than Senator Obama? JM: Well, I think one of the major [accomplishments] of women in America today is their leadership in small business.... My job is to keep their taxes low and [make sure they have] health insurance. Senator Obama wants to raise their taxes. That&amp;#x27;s one big difference; another is that he wants to force Americans to have government-run health care, which I believe will be a big mistake.... I believe in less government, smaller government, lower taxes and the family making decisions on health care. GLAMOUR: A reader, 20-year-old Liz DiNardo in Berlin, Maryland, wants to know how you plan to deal with gas prices. Realistically, what per-gallon cost do you think you can help bring them down to? JM: In the short term, if we announce it and begin drilling offshore immediately, [we will] help reduce the price of a gallon of gas. But it was 30 years getting into this situation; it&amp;#x27;s going to take us some time to get out. We need wind, tide, solar, nuclear, hybrid cars, conservation and drilling offshore. And nuclear power is a vital necessity. So we need all of those aspects of a national mission. I call it the Lexington Project, to become independent of foreign oil and develop the new technologies necessary, not only to reduce our dependency on foreign oil but also to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. GLAMOUR: One more question, from Erin Olson, 33, in Elk Grove, California. She wants to know: What is your biggest regret in your political career so far? JM: I&amp;#x27;m sure that I have made mistakes. But I&amp;#x27;ve corrected them, and I&amp;#x27;m overall proud of my record.... Probably my greatest regret is that, as a party, we failed to control spending, and that has caused this major factor in the corruption in Washington, and the lack of confidence. I guess my regret is that I was not more successful in combating the out-of-control spending that led to this enormous lack of trust and confidence on the part of the American people. But I&amp;#x27;ll keep fighting, and as president of the United States, I will be more successful--because I&amp;#x27;ll be president."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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