McCain aims young

Well, it worked for Jenna Bush ...

Meghan McCain will be the next young Republican to publish a children's book when her 32-page illustrated biography of her father -- titled, fittingly enough, "My Dad, John McCain" -- is published Sept. 2 by Simon & Schuster. The book comes out in the middle of the GOP convention; according to CNN's Peter Hamby, who saw an advance copy on McCain's campaign plane Wednesday, along with other traveling reporters, that's about where the book wraps up.

"In September 2008, the Republican Party had a big meeting, the Republican National Convention,” Hamby quotes from the book. “And on that day, my dad was officially chosen as the Republican candidate for President of the United States."

The book is intended for children between 5 and 10 years old (who wouldn't be old enough to vote for John McCain even if he wins two terms), but presumably the people doing the purchasing will be their Republican parents. (Those Republican parents can save 32 percent off the $16.99 cover price if they order from Amazon instead of Simon & Schuster, but I guess they won't need to save the five bucks if McCain wins and keeps their taxes low.)

By writing a children's book, Meghan McCain follows in Jenna's footsteps (her "Ana's Story" was a No. 1 bestseller), but also in her father's -- McCain, working with top aide and frequent book collaborator Mark Salter, wrote "Character Is Destiny," a sort of "Profiles in Courage" for the 'tween set, a few years ago. Apparently, the family that signs book contracts together stays together; Cindy McCain, McCain's wife and Meghan's mom, was also supposed to be working on a book this fall, but canceled it earlier this year.

You may already be familiar with Meghan's writing, of course, from her blog about life on the trail with her dad. Unlike the blog, though, the children's book probably won't recommend playlists, which is too bad; Meghan, who gives the unofficial campaign thumbs up to songs by artists ranging from Fugazi to Thelonious Monk, clearly has better taste in music than her father.