McCain’s ‘Free Ride’

Other than arguing that we should stay in Iraq.
Right, other than to stay in Iraq. But that's it. That's really all we know. The Democrats have complex policy issues laid out on their Web sites, but no one's seriously arguing that McCain's been tremendously substantive.

Most would say that Sen. Hillary Clinton has been far more substantive than her Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama. Yet Obama is now the front runner, so doesn't this emphasis on personality over substance speak to a certain political savvy on McCain's part?
Sure, you could say that all those policy papers don't really matter much. But you could make a case that McCain doesn't seem to have a nuanced grasp of policy, domestic or foreign. And you don't see the same serious investigations about what he wants to do on health care or taxes that you get with other candidates, the kind of coverage that Americans deserve. Instead, with McCain you get the constant regurgitation of the same tropes, that he's a war hero, a maverick.

Why has that maverick label stuck?
Well, for one because we've been told the story so often. Everyone in Congress goes against [his or her] party at some point. But when McCain does, something different happens. If moderates defect from the Republican cause on an issue, it's still presented as a conflict between the Democrats and the Republicans. But when McCain does, the story becomes McCain against the Republicans. He becomes the central actor on those rare occasions, and it gets much more press. But when you look at it, almost every one of those times he does go against the Republicans, it's when their position is unpopular with voters. He puts himself on the popular side. If his ambition was to be majority or minority leader in the Senate, that would be a bad idea. But he wants to be president, so it becomes very good politics to find those places where your party is out of step with the public and break with them. You get the double benefit.

In your book you chart the number of appearances he's made over the years on Sunday talk shows and how many times the terms "straight talk" and "maverick" have been mentioned within 10 words of McCain. In 2000 that number was 2,114. That's a lot.
It is, and that's usually all we get. And in terms of talk show appearances, he's by far the leader over the last several years. People see him as a great guest, a politician who's not being political.

In your book you compare it to a line in the movie "Singles," when a girl tells a guy, "I think not having an act is your act." Is that McCain's secret?
Totally, and it's something you would think more politicians would have figured out by now. That being on the record all the time and talking about anything might entail some risk, but over time it builds up so much good will that when you do say something embarrassing, it doesn't stick.

What's an example?
There are tons. Like in 2000 he referred to Vietnamese as gooks. For a presidential candidate to use a racist term like that is usually incredibly damaging, but the press just ignored it. And when they finally did address it, after some Asian-American groups started to complain, they were very careful to put it into context and explain it away.