Customer Reviews

The Real McCain: Why Conservatives Don't Trust Him and Why Independents Shouldn't

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Cliff Schecter successfully paints the real picture of the man behind the funny, happy-go-lucky public persona we've seen several times on the John Stewart Show and the campaign trail. Through solid reporting and fact-checking, the Real McCain uncovers the presidential candidate from the accounts of those in the media and political arena who know McCain best: as the often irascible, irritable and utterly unpredictable character who wants to occupy the Oval Office, as dangerous as that might seem. An excellent read especially for independents or anyone entertaining the idea of voting for McCain.

Cliff Schecter has done a masterful job of summing up the many puzzling flipflops and changes that John McCain has continued to undergo since his first race for the presidency was aborted by BushCo/Karl Rove during the South Carolina primary in 2000. Terse, densely packed with facts, footnoted to a fare-thee-well, and not without touches of grim humor, the author offers the most important information about the man who would be America's oldest president (he'll turn 72 in August) if he successfully continues to dodge and weave when voicing (or not) opinions on issues crucial to America. In his efforts to be all things to all people, "when it comes to the tough votes," says Schecter, McCain has opted out, missing "a whopping 261 of 468 votes, or almost 56 percent, by March 2008." (The only Senator to miss more votes was Tim Johnson, recovering from a serious brain hemorrhage.) All candidates miss votes, but the author notes, "McCain the maverick ... betrays a calculated strategy: namely, to avoid going on the record when doing so would be politically risky."

Perhaps the most incredible--yet best explained--parts of this book depict McCain's shameful truckling both to the religious right and to the very man who once smeared him--George W. Bush. ("It's awfully hard to say no to the President," admitted McCain in 2006, when he said his loyalty to GWB was so "profound" that he wouldn't rule out leaving his Senate seat to become Secretary of Defense if and when Donald Rumsfeld were to leave.)

Schechter mentions briefly a number of McCain's obvious personal weaknesses, including his dissolute youth and poor academic record (he graduated sixth from the bottom of his class of nearly 900 students at the Naval Academy), his divorce, and his speedy remarriage to a wealthy younger woman, a beer heiress whom he courted while still married, and has helped bankroll his career ever since. Where such flaws as McCain's volcanic temper are concerned, Schechter ties them to specific incidents, which are legion. In addition, he points out McCain's reciprocated love affair with powerful members of the Beltway media elite, which is not shared by journalists in his adoptive home state of Arizona. Frightening evidence is provided of McCain's ignorance of numerous issues, such as the economy, public health, and the advisability of maintaining and even expanding the war in Iraq.

While this author acknowledges and praises McCain's service in Vietnam, he stresses that what's most crucial to prospective voters is what McCain the man has done since shedding his uniform. "The Real McCain" provides the most important 150 pages that prospective voters of any political affiliation should read before the November election.

Cliff Schecter's book on John McCain reminds us who this man really is: a panderer who flip-flops and says whatever he thinks he needs to say to climb to the next rung on the political ladder; an extremist supporter of Bush's Iraq policy, who says he would like the US to occupy Iraq for the next 100 years; someone who has dished out so many free martinis and cocktail weenies to the DC media that he calls the media "my base"; a man who defended his immigration policy by claiming absurdly that American citizens would never pick lettuce for $50 an hour -- "You can't do it, my friends" was his response to the many hard-working American wage slaves who tried to take this multi-millionaire up on his offer to pick lettuce for nearly 10 TIMES the current US minimum wage of $5.85 per hour.

Racist when he needs to be, pseudo-centrist when he thinks it will suit him, unfaithful to his disabled first wife who he then left to marry his girlfriend, a pill-popping multi-millionaire brewing heiress: John McCain can be a lot of things. But Schecter reminds us who he really is: incompetent, aggressive, pandering, old, and hopelessly out-of-touch.

In short, artful prose, Schecter paints a portrait of Senator McCain that is nothing like the "maverick" image he has crafted for himself through his "base" in the U.S. press corps. Peppered throughout are some insightful anecdotes that demonstrate McCain's inconsistencies, anger, petulance, and pettiness, but perhaps the most damning part of the "Real McCain" is in Schecter's documentation of the men and women with whom the Arizona senator chooses to associate, namely corrupt politicians, corporate lobbyists, and members of the fourth estate. More than anything else, his closeness with and fondness for these "friends" explains why most Americans have not yet met "The Real McCain."

Cliff Schecter offers an understanding of three different McCains, not so much a study in multiple personality as a pragmatic progression in public life of a guy who doesn't really have a central core self. While McCain's inner compass is understandably fixated on the presidency, in this study we learn why we have impressions of him that aren't real.

The independent, the maverick, and the straight shooter are impressions we may have without some close study. This book isn't hard to read, not heavy with academic detail, but more traces these three McCains and the environments they have lived in and worked in through the years.

Schecter doesn't dispute the heroism and service to the country. He doesn't really seem to hate the guy. So it's easy reading through the years of service, tracing the influences, showing how the impressions we have are all about some other McCain who isn't any longer. Part of why he isn't is that he's had to make adjustments to keep his goal in view.

For me, there were more than a few surprises here. Recently I became alarmed seeing the "Barbara Ann" video. Recently I heard a longtime Democrat consider voting for McCain this year because of dismay over the other primary. Sure, vote however you like. But first, know this about your candidate.

The last chapter explores the possibilities of a McCain cabinet. It is this chapter, if you are a bookstore browser and don't want to make a purchase, that you should read. Just stand right there and read it. The prospects of a McCain presidency might seem fairly benevolent or even appealing until you get a little more informed. Schecter himself contributed to McCain's earlier campaign. Now, Schecter says, he wants his $20 back.

If you aren't getting your way with the Democrats and you might be thinking as my friend is, read this first, or just the last chapter!! First, contemplate the prospects for our nation's domestic and foreign policy, consider a future without a compass that points anywhere substantial. Just when you think we've had enough of Armageddon policy.

Thanks to Cliff Schecter. He'll get his $20 back. I'll vote Democrat no matter what. I'll loan the book to my friend and then it will go the local library.

I had debated voting for John McCain in the 2008 primary here in California, but something about him just didn't seem right. He appeared to change positions at will and he seemed to have a temper that didn't seem fitting for a presidential candidate. Thanks to this well written and well researched book, I know my suspicions were on target.

I found the book to be enlightening and filled with information that will help me make an informed decision when the general election rolls around. Everyone who plans to vote should read this book and any available on the Democratic candidate to make the most informed choice possible.

I did reduce the stars by one due to some redundancy in the writing. Otherwise this is an excellent book.

I agree with "Fineguy." I am reluctant to leave a glowing review of a book that is well-researched and documented and that paints McCain as the craven immoral opportunist who is perfect to follow Bush. I mean, what if these people put the wiretapping goons on me, and discovered I am Client Number Five and prefer meeting in Senator Craig's bathroom stall?

I used to like McCain. I fell for his "Straight Talk" patter. I lost all respect for him when, after the Bush machine lied and slandered him in South Carolina in 2000, Bush could not wait to literally embrace them as long as they would promise he could be a chosen one in 2008.

If I were not afraid, I would tell you this book is a must-read if you want to understand how low McCraven can sink.

I'm not a McCain fan, but I am interested in reading about him - and this quick read is compelling. (Think: Saturday afternoon in Napa Valley while you're sipping your chardonnay and munching on some brie...) And the best part about it - footnotes! Schecter has scrupulously documented his manuscript with 20 pages of footnotes, citing (among others) The New York Times, the Congressional Record, the Boston Globe, the Washington Post and the Orlando Sentinel, as well as a host of online sources including Slate. Exploring his references is as much fun as reading the book.

While The Real McCain portrays McCain as a flip-flopping brown-nosing politician who will do anything to succeed, one has to ask, so? For me the most surprising thing was how obvious this flip-flopping is - condemning the Confederate flag as offensive in one speech, and three days later saying "the flag is a symbol of heritage"; saying we should "stay the course" in Iraq one day and the next week saying he's "not an advocate for a 'stay the course' policy in Iraq." Schecter goes on and on in a conversational and easy-to-read tone that makes this an easy one-day read.

And if you Google "Cliff Schecter," you get to his blog - even more fun. The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is it's too short, although at $10 it's a great bargain.

I am privileged to number among my friends, acquaintances, and relatives several people who are fairly high up in politics, government, and the military who have dealt with Senator McCain in one capacity or another in their lines of work. They represent points of view ranging from conservative to moderate to liberal to staunchly apolitical. They've all told me privately that the image of John McCain as a principled, consistent, reforming maverick is a myth based on very little truth - and that he's got a wicked temper and an "it's personal" approach to politics, too. Cliff Schecter's THE REAL MCCAIN is one of several recent books which (finally) are starting to deconstruct the McCain myth. From immigration to Iraq to taxes to the Religious Right - and even his signature issue, campaign finance reform - Schecter documents McCain's always-shifting, often unclear positions and inconsistent votes. He also notes how McCain deftly uses his (admittedly genuine) war hero status to get a free pass from the media, the public, and other politicians. All in all, Schecter portrays McCain as a skillful opportunist who holds very few genuine principles of any kind.

Unfortunately, Schecter's personal biases (leftwing/partisan Democrat) intrude upon what could have been a more objective narrative and tone; such a balanced style would have lent his revelations much greater authority and credibility among the independents, conservatives, and moderates of both parties who may be considering whether or not to vote for McCain. Instead, Schecter gratuitously fires off cheap shots at McCain and other Republicans, and also tries to pass off several extremely biased sources as objective and nonpartisan. Sometimes he criticizes McCain just for not being liberal enough, without any effort to relate this to what I thought was the focus of the book: the man's character. These types of things aren't necessary to make Schecter's point, and in fact end up detracting from it.

The nasty, partisan style of this book - reminiscent of a leftwing Anne Coulter -- is not surprising when you look at who exactly Schecter and his publisher are. Cliff Schecter is a hardcore liberal, with a resume that includes NPR, Air America, the Huffington Post, and organizations affiliated with the AFL-CIO, among other things, so he's hardly an unbiased, nonpartisan source. And Polipointpress, the publisher, also prints such objective, nonpartisan books as: WHY I'M A DEMOCRAT; JACKED: HOW CONSERVATIVES ARE PICKING YOUR POCKET; and HOUSE OF ILL REPUTE: REFLECTIONS ON WAR, LIES, AND AMERICA'S RAVAGED REPUTATION, among many others.

That doesn't necessarily mean the things written here about McCain are necessarily false, any more than the ideological bent of Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity means that the things they say about the Clintons or Barack Obama are always false, either. But it does mean that moderates, independents, and even many principled conservatives who have genuine reasons to dislike McCain will be turned off by the way Mr. Schecter presents his case here. I've never remotely been a McCain fan, and even I was bothered by it.

As a lifelong resident of Arizona, I know firsthand that there's a wealth of skeletons in Senator John McCain's closet and many documented examples of why his personality might not be a good fit for the presidency.

Unfortunately, even though this book contains a wealth of information, it's presented in a partisan and irreverent tone that detracts from the content and will most likely turn off moderates and conservatives. If you're a liberal and are looking for quick, light book to introduce you to John McCain this book might be just the thing. But regardless of your politics, if you want a thoughtful portrayal of the candidate, his personality and behavior, his malleable positions and how he might perform as president, this is probably not the book for you.

For example, in his introduction to a 1995 incident wherein McCain lost his temper and actually engaged in a physical scuffle with an elderly colleague in the Senate, Schecter quips that 93 year old Strom Thurman "probably hadn't been in possession of all his faculties since the days he was fighting for separate water fountains." In another case, Senator Joe Lieberman is referred to as "elfin" and "Little Joe".

I was hoping for a more serious discourse of John McCain's checkered history; it's a shame that this book collects many of the relevant facts, but doesn't present them more effectively.