The Real McCain
I finished The Real McCain by Cliff Schecter a few days ago and was quite surprised at the amount of negative facts an author can include about the presumptive Republican candidate in 150 pages. The book is pretty short and took me 10 days to finish it from beginning to end. I expected more of the same in terms of content; similar to what Suzanne Goldenberg wrote in Madam President, but I was pleasantly surprised. Cliff Schecter has done what most authors tend not to do, get right to the point from page two:
If it is not political calculation on McCain’s part to tell the evangelicals what they want to hear, then what is it?
When I read at night, I often have some sticky notes close by so that I can mark important passages in the book. Initially I started off marking about the first fifty pages before I realized that Mr.Schecter has managed to include every negative substantive fact about Senator McCain in this book. Senator McCain has denied the contents of the book because Mr. Schecter mentions using anonymous sources at several places in the book however in an interview with BuzzFlash he mentions Senator McCain’s reaction to the book:
He did, and he denied it. And I guess that’s the point I’m making is that he denied the charge [of assaulting Renzi], and that’s been proven. Because he said that I had anonymous sources and I was making it up. But now, of course, he’s had to admit that it did happen, and try to say, well, it happened, but it didn’t happen exactly the way I said. But that’s the newest line out of the McCain camp.
I enjoyed this book for the most part but chose to read it over an official autobiography of John McCain because as a liberal I don’t know how much republican rhetoric I can stand to read before I go to bed at night. I enjoyed the book because it was clearly well researched but it got quite boring towards the end because the endless negativity (not in a bad way). It is a definite must read for any liberals or independents who are debating on whether to vote for John McCain.
The overall conclusion I drew from this book based on the facts presented is that Senator McCain is the typical personification of a politician. He says what he needs to say to please the crowds and the people who support him. It is impossible to know what he truly stands for because of his changing nature but I believe this kind of politician cannot exist in the 21st century but we will have to wait to see whether the general election proves this statement. If I were talking a rating out of 10, I would give The Real McCain 6 out of 10 for being enlightening but far too negative for a book of only 150 pages.
May 27 2008 11:49 am | American Politics and Book Reviews
May 27th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
LOL Crian!
“He says what he needs to say to please the crowds and the people who support him. I believe all politicians do that, regardless of their party affiliation. It’s sort of what makes them politicians. Obama did it in San Francisco and it got him in trouble because someone used a cell phone to record the speech. Hillary got caught too, with her lying about being under fire when she was not.
I think it would be wonderful if we had a truly honest candidate who didn’t play to the crowds but I doubt it’s ever going to happen. I believe a totally honest person couldn’t even run for President any more, not with the way things are set up. I hate to sound so cynical, but I do believe what I’m saying. It has gotten to the point where we the people have a choice of “picking our poison” or what we believe is “the lesser evil.” That’s a hell of a thing, but I believe it’s true.
May 27th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
“….Senator McCain is the typical personification of a politician. He says what he needs to say to please the crowds and the people who support him.”
Sounds like Jacob Zuma!
May 27th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
I think it’s great that McCain got the Republican nomination. It shows that most Republicans are growing tired of the far right and want their party to move more towards the center. Unfortunately, McCain is already flip-flopping on the issues due to pressure from conservatives. If elected president, it will probably mean ’stay the course’ policies.
The great thing about politics these days is that politicians, pundits and new channels will quickly be held accountable for what they say due to video, the internet and concerned citizens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo1oBxWun34&feature=PlayList&p=D951B4393E6CEA9F&index=4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TP1FjUp7bw&feature=PlayList&p=D951B4393E6CEA9F&index=0
LOL… so much for the ‘Straight Talk Express’.
PS: I’m curious what Obama said or did in San Francisco that demonstrated ’saying what he needs to say to please the crowd’.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Hey Mo, that was a great comment about Jacob Zuma, I laugh whenever I read it.
Hey RR, I agree with you that the Republican party is looking for a more centrist approach in order to appeal to that large base of independants. I don’t think Senator McCain is the centrist he appears and like the book suggests, a flip-flopper even more so that Senator Obama or Senator Clinton.
YouTube is truly great because I remember it catching quite a few moments that politicans wish were not online.
I think what Gayle is referring to is his comments on “bittergate” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mayhill-fowler/obama-no-surprise-that-ha_b_96188.html but I will let Gayle correct me on that if I am wrong.
Hey Gayle, hope you are not too busy these days but always a pleasure to hear your thoughts. I thought you might get a kick out of that statement but I will not disagree with you that Senator Obama has said some things on occasion that were said for the sake of the crowd but I think most Obama supporters would say he is less of a politican that many in Washington though I am sure you will debate that comment with me at a later date
Funny thing you should mention choosing the “lesser evil” because a friend of mine and I were discussing that same issue in me urging her to vote but she didn’t see the point. I hope that one day, the system will change so that the truly honest man can be elected President but maybe because reality requires deception of sorts, this will never happen?