"McCain repudiated his record, his principles, and even his maverick reputation..."

[babylonsister]

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/10/07/the_real_mccain.html

The Real McCain

Vanity Fair: "Desperate to keep his Senate seat, John McCain repudiated his record, his principles, and even his maverick reputation, entrenching himself as the anti-Obama. Which raises the issue of whether the leader so many Americans admired -- and so many journalists covered -- ever truly existed."

"It's quite possible that nothing at all has changed about John McCain, a ruthless and self-centered survivor who endured five and a half years in captivity in North Vietnam, and who once told Torie Clarke that his favorite animal was the rat, because it is cunning and eats well. It's possible to see McCain's entire career as the story of a man who has lived in the moment, who has never stood for any overriding philosophy in any consistent way, and who has been willing to do all that it takes to get whatever it is he wants. He himself said, in the thick of his battle with Hayworth, 'I've always done whatever's necessary to win.' Maybe the rest of us just misunderstood."

VF article here:

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2010/11/mccain-201011
The Man Who Never Was

[saltpoint]

1. Yep. 'Rat' works for me.

Recommended.

[Tippy]

2. Same here....K&R

[asjr]

3. Con man to the nth degree.

[Cassandra]

5. Minus the charm.

[catgirl]

4. K&R

[unblock]

6. refudiated.

actually, picking palin was a classic example of mccain's alleged "maverick" style.
it was never what it appeared to be, never what some wanted it to be.
it was always a convenient vote against his party when the outcome for his party was well-known, or, as in this case, finding an unorthodox way of doing exactly what his party and the right-wing nuts want him to do anyway.

[Dappleganger]

7. "ruthless and self-centered"

Did I tell DU that my father was one of the mechanics who worked on McCain's plane(s)? Ruthless and self-centered was just the tip of the iceberg.

[blondeatlast]

9. I've known a local photog who has a few choice invectives for the "good" Senator. nt

[blondeatlast]

8. "But now McCain seems uncharacteristically fearful.' Coupled with

VF's explication of a Mccain presidency; the scenario is just as bleak as I feared it it to be.

He's a scary, disturbed man.

k/r

[SargeUNN]

10. McCain is just for McCain

he wants to appear reasonable at times to hopefully get the more moderate vote, but his only mission is keep his hold on what power he has.