McCain: The Myth of a Maverick

Matt Welch

Palgrave Macmillan, Oct 16, 2007 - Political Science - 256 pages

John McCain is one of the most familiar, sympathetic, and overexposed figures in American politics, yet his concrete governing philosophy and actual track record have been left curiously unexamined, mostly because of the massive distractions in his official biography, but also because of his ingenious strategy of talking ad infinitum to each and every access-craving media person who happens by. The more he has spouted, the less journalists have bothered trying to see through the fog.

        McCain gives the voting public what it wants but can't find -- a flesh-and-bones political portrait of a man onto whom people are forever projecting their own ideological fantasies. It is a psychological key for decoding his allegedly 'maverick' actions, and the first realistic assessment of what a John McCain presidency may look like. McCain will quickly lay out in overlapping detail the root cause of the senator's worldview: his personal transformation from underachieving punk to war hawk uber-patriot, in which he used the "higher power" of American nationalism to save his life and soul.

        As McCain wrenches himself inside-out in pursuit of the prize that eluded him in 2000, McCain will look behind the war hero, behind the maverick reformer. Journalist and pundit Matt Welch brings to this project an investigative eye and a coolly analytical mindset to provide Republicans, Democrats and Independents a picture of the man in full before they enter the voting booth in 2008.
 

What people are saying

Review: McCain: The Myth of a Maverick

User Review  - Jeff Raymond - Goodreads

This book made me like McCain more. I don't think that was the intent.

Review: McCain: The Myth of a Maverick

User Review  - Henry - Goodreads

Amazingly prescient book about McCain. Written at his nadir in the '08 race, the book predicts McCain will come back. Lots of disturbing anecdotes and patterns suggest McCain is, at heart, a psychopath.

About the author

Matt Welch is the Assistant Editorial Pages Editor of the Los Angeles Times. From 2002 to 2005 he was an Associate Editor at Reason magazine, where he wrote a regular column and he was the American politics columnist for Canada's National Post from 2001 to 2004. His work has appeared in such politically diverse outlets as Salon.com, the American Spectator, AlterNet, the Orange County Register, and the Columbia Journalism Review. Welch also maintains a popular weblog at mattwelch.com. He lives in Los Angeles.

Bibliographic information

• Title: McCain: The Myth of a Maverick
• Author: Matt Welch
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007
• ISBN: 0230608558, 9780230608559
• Length: 256 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Political; Political Science / American Government / Executive Branch; Political Science / Political Process / Elections