FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Used - Good | See details
 
   
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Tell the Publisher!
I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

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

Cliff Schecter
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)


Available from these sellers.


Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover --  
Paperback --  
Image
Save on Popular Books This Summer
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


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


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)

More About the Authors

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
188 of 209 people found the following review helpful
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
154 of 174 people found the following review helpful
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.
... Read more ›
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
68 of 76 people found the following review helpful
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."
Was this review helpful to you?
55 of 65 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Every Voter Needs to Know This April 15, 2008
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.
... Read more ›
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars straight talk on the true McCain
Folks lining up lying telling you not to vote for Obama.

Get to know the alternative.
Read this book. Read more
Published on October 27, 2008 by C. Scanlon
4.0 out of 5 stars McCain 4.0
I have read this book and passed it on to my neighbor who is career Navy. McCain is a snake, period. Read more
Published on October 25, 2008 by Bonhomme Robert
1.0 out of 5 stars Great book for unsubstantiated political generalizations about McCain...
This short book (150 reading pages) is great at unsubstantiated political jabs at McCain and republicans. Read more
Published on October 23, 2008 by Alaskasourdough
4.0 out of 5 stars Well researched and documented, preaching to the converted
The book contrasts McCain's heavily airbrushed media-engineered image to facts, testimony and reports available in the public record that are not so favorable. Read more
Published on September 20, 2008 by A. Dent
5.0 out of 5 stars One And McSame
As the cover aptly shows here is McCain embracing Bush and everything he stands for. McCain supporters have clearly shown that the truth is the last thing they want to hear. Read more
Published on September 3, 2008 by D. Carlisle
1.0 out of 5 stars A First Class "SwiftBoat" Smear Job of a Patriot
This is about the worst garbage printed I have ever read! If you thought that the Swift Boat garbage written about Kerry or the Obama Nation book were bad....then save your money. Read more
Published on August 30, 2008 by M. A. aftanski
4.0 out of 5 stars A Smear Job, but a decent one
This kind of book comes out every election campaign. It's like Obama Nation, except there are no obvious lies and distortions. Read more
Published on August 25, 2008 by William W. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Insider, Grafter, Double-talker
When I was young and foolish, and lived mostly abroad, I took John McCain at his own word -- and the media's word, or course -- as an independent maverick, an up-to-date Goldwater. Read more
Published on August 20, 2008 by Giordano Bruno
1.0 out of 5 stars A disgrace and a message to all troops in the united states military...
This book is a disgrace trying to portray an American hero into a traitor and a political puppet. People like John Mccain and others who are serving in the military have long been... Read more
Published on August 13, 2008 by John Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you Mr. Cliff Schecter - Thank you !!!!
With your book, I have something well researched and documented that I can send to friends and family who argue for McCain ! Read more
Published on August 9, 2008 by TV McGuirk
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Listmania!


Create a Listmania! list

So You'd Like to...


Create a guide


Look for Similar Items by Category