McCain's wife going to Georgia

SACRAMENTO, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Would-be U.S. first lady Cindy McCain is heading to Georgia to see President Mikheil Saakashvili and visit wounded Georgian troops, the McCain camp said Monday.

The wife of the presumptive Republican U.S. presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, is making the trip under the auspices of the World Food Program, McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker told The Washington Post.

John McCain has condemned Russia's military incursion into Georgia. His campaign also has chided Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the soon-to-be Democratic presidential nominee, for being more reserved in his response to the Russian moves.

In an interview with Time magazine, the Post noted, Cindy McCain said she has wanted to visit Georgia for "some time" and that trips like this are "an important part of what I'm about, what makes me tick."

McCain aides told Time the trip was not timed specifically to the Democratic National Convention.

"She's on the phone with the World Food Program, he's on the phone with Saakashvili," McCain adviser Nicolle Wallace told Time. "It's like this great picture of what they'll be like in the White House."