“It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency.”
—George F. Will, “McCain Loses His Head,” The Washington Post, Sept. 23, 2008

THE REAL McCAIN
Why Conservatives Don’t Trust Him—and Why Independents Shouldn’t
By Cliff Schecter

Cliff Schecter’s hard-hitting profile explores the gap between the public record and the media image of Senator John McCain. Drawing on a range of sources and adding his unique perspective and humor, Schecter guides the reader though McCain’s long history of expedient flip-flops on the Iraq war, the Christian right, campaign finance reform, torture, abortion, gay rights, and other issues. Far from a straight-talking maverick, McCain emerges as a temperamental political chameleon who will do or say almost anything to become president of the United States. The Real McCain covers McCain’s

• lobbyist connections, including campaign manager Rick Davis
• involvement in the 1980s’ S&L scandal as a member of the Keating Five
• vicious temper and his clashes with Rep. Rick Renzi and others

“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.”

—Michael Tomasky, New York Review of Books, June 12, 2008

Biography
Cliff Schecter is a political commentator and consultant who appears regularly on MSNBC, CNN, National Public Radio, Air America Radio, and other national media outlets. A frequent contributor to the Huffington Post and the Guardian Online, he is also a senior fellow at Working America (a division of the AFL-CIO) and Progress Ohio. For more information, go to www.RealMccainBook.com or www.p3books.com/therealmccain.

The Real McCain is available at booksellers nationwide.
PoliPointPress, May 2008; ISBN: 978-09794822-9-8; Paperback, $14.95; 187 pages

Far from a straight-talking maverick, McCain emerges as a temperamental political chameleon who will do or say virtually anything to become president of the United States. On issue after issue—including the invasion and occupation of Iraq, torture, abortion, and gay rights—The Real McCain reveals a politician who started as a Goldwater Republican, experienced a brief period after sanity after his loss to George W. Bush in 2000, and began pandering to the very groups he challenged after deciding to run again in 2008.

Cliff Schecter is a Knight-Ridder columnist, a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, and a frequent guest on PRI, CNN, MSNBC, and many other national media outlets that cover politics.
 
 
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