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

Cliff Schecter (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Schecter's The Real McCain chronicles, in fine-grain detail, McCain's votes and positions, showing that they often seem to reflect hypocrisy, flip-flopping, and pure expediency, rather than the political courage for which he is famous." --By Michael Tomasky - The New York Review of Books - June 12, 2008

From the Back Cover

Cliff Schecter provides us with some real "straight talk" about John McCain. Everyone who wants to know why John McCain won't give us healthcare but will keep us fighting endless wars and sell our personal freedoms to far-right theocrats should read this book.

Paul Hackett
Major, USMCR

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Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: PoliPoint Press (May 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979482291
• ISBN-13: 978-0979482298
• Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 6.1 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,179,725 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

188 of 209 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Straight Account of the Man Who Would Do or Say Anything to Occupy the White House April 8, 2008

By Jay

Format:Paperback

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.

154 of 174 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for this year's voters, of any affiliation April 15, 2008

By L Goodman-Malamuth VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

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. Read more ›

263 of 303 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Portrait of John W. McCain April 8, 2008

By J S

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

68 of 76 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The John McCain that the media will never let you see April 11, 2008

By Remote Clancy

Format:Paperback

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."

55 of 65 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Every Voter Needs to Know This April 15, 2008

By Sylvia Hawley

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

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. Read more ›