wOw: Are you good at keeping secrets?

Blackford: I’ve kept all your secrets, wOw.

wOw: Aren’t you only a heartbeat away from Mrs. McCain?

Blackford: I would say yes when she does all of her interviews, when we travel on the road and when she’s approached by the press. But Mrs. McCain is an incredibly smart and capable woman and really can hold her own. I usually brief her first thing in the morning, depending upon what time our day starts, and I leave her the last thing at night when we get to whatever hotel we’re staying at.

wOw: What drew you to your job?

Blackford: I think with Mrs. McCain in particular, I’ve never seen someone so maligned. Having worked in the media for so many years as a senior broadcast producer both at "Good Morning America" and "The Early Show" on CBS, I knew who a lot of the players were. I thought I could help enlighten her to the mainstream media.  I really was drawn to her because she’s an incredible woman and so strong and yet she is so misrepresented in the media. It was shocking to me how misrepresented she was. I don’t want to go too much into the image of her, but I think everybody knows that she was very quiet and stood silently behind her husband but, that is not who she is at all. 

She’s a very accomplished woman in her own right. And I think a lot of times the main stream media sees a Republican woman, or the wife of a Republican candidate and think, ‘Oh they must be brainless, witless and told to do whatever they’re told to do.’ But I think that has been disproved with Laura Bush and I think the same goes as well for Cindy McCain. These women have strong opinions and lives of their own.

wOw:Do you and Mrs. McCain ever discuss Mrs. Obama and what do you say?

Blackford:We don’t, actually. They’re both very different women at this point in their lives.  Mrs. McCain certainly understands where Mrs. Obama is in her life now. Mrs. McCain understands that Mrs. Obama is the mother of two young girls. She’s been there too. But her children are older now and she has four of them. But she understands the trials and tribulations of trying to juggle a political life and maintain some balance of family life.

wOw:How does she stay in touch with her children right now? 

Blackford:She has three BlackBerrys at all times! She’s the most technologically advanced person I’ve ever met. It’s amazing. She is constantly on the phone with her children or texting them all day long.