Excerpt from Free Ride: John McCain and the Media

The following is an excerpt from FREE RIDE: John McCain and the Media. Co-authors David Brock and Paul Waldman document how the media have abandoned their post as honest arbiters in coverage of the presumptive Republican nominee for president. They show how the media aided McCain's rebirth following the Keating Five savings-and-loan scandal, casting him as the "maverick," "straight-talking" hero of the 2000 primaries, then boosting his roller-coaster run for the 2008 Republican nomination. FREE RIDE will be required reading for anyone interested in the political process, as well as for those frustrated or fascinated by the role the media play in politics. For more information, visit McCainsFreeRide.com.

Over the course of a career, most nationally prominent politicians, particularly those who choose to seek the White House, can expect ups and downs in their treatment by the press. While some are looked on more favorably than others, most of the key figures in national politics will see times when they are hailed as victors and praised for their strengths, and times when they are derided as losers and pilloried for their weaknesses. But in recent years, there has been one exception to this rule: John McCain. While other politicians are examined with a cynical eye, McCain and his admirers in the media have cooperated to construct a shimmering image of the senator from Arizona, one that has propelled him to the heights of American politics. McCain, as he has been presented to the public, is a straight-talking maverick, a war hero standing astride the parties and untroubled by political calculations.

As our new book, Free Ride: John McCain and the Media shows, no other modern politician has received as much favorable press as John McCain has in the past decade, a period that has seen him go from a relative unknown to the man that The Almanac of American Politics calls "the closest thing our politics has to a national hero." While some politicians might get nearly as much attention, and a few others (such as Chuck Hagel or Richard Lugar) are privileged with steadily laudatory press, McCain stands alone in the combination of his high profile in the media and the overwhelmingly positive tone of the coverage that the press gives him.

But calling McCain's coverage positive does not begin to convey the complexity of his singular status in the media. In a hundred ways, the rules are simply different for McCain. Indeed, when writing about McCain, journalists offer a unique brand of praise. Here are a few of the things hard-bitten reporters said about McCain during his 2000 run for the presidency:

• "A man of unshakable character, willing to stand up for his convictions." (R.W. Apple, New York Times)
• "An original, imaginative, and at times inspiring candidate." ( Jacob Weisberg, Slate)
• "Mr. McCain is running as the blunt anti-politician who won't lie, who won't spin." (Alison Mitchell, New York Times)
• "While most candidates talk up their chances, McCain engages in anti-spin." (Howard Kurtz, Washington Post)
• "He rises above the pack in admitting it's not all the other party's fault. He's eloquent, as only a prisoner of war can be." (David Nyhan, Boston Globe)
• "McCain conveys a great sense of vigor, a sense that anything can happen on his campaign." ( Roger Simon, U.S. News & World Report)
• "There's something authentic about this man." (Mike Wallace, 60 Minutes)
• "Basically just a cool dude." ( Jake Tapper, Salon)

This sampling -- all from the campaign season, when reporters tend to be more cynical -- only skims the surface. In story after story, the media portrayed -- and continue to portray -- John McCain as a larger-than-life anti-politician, unbeholden to special interests and driven not by ambition but by a sense of duty. Such was the rapport that developed between McCain and the media in 2000 that McCain staffers began to call the media their "base." As Michael Lewis, a frequent magazine contributor and bestselling author, wrote about McCain in 1997, "I became used to opening the morning paper and finding McCain's quotes on the front page and his opinions echoed on the editorial page. It was a testament to the growing distrust between the press and the more ordinary politicians. Here was a Republican Senator -- a red meat, pro-life, strong-army kind of guy -- and yet somehow he had become the preferred source of the putatively liberal media."

Lewis may have been one of the first reporters to turn his wordsmithing talents to the elevation of John McCain the politician (R.W. Apple also wrote some of the first tributes to McCain, in the New York Times), but he was hardly the last. David Broder and David Ignatius of the Washington Post, Howard Fineman of Newsweek, Joe Klein of Time (who described McCain's 2000 campaign as containing "hints of what politics might become . . . if we're lucky"), and Chris Matthews of MSNBC would have to be counted among McCain's most enthusiastic current boosters in the major media. Although these men may be more demonstrative in their admiration for McCain, that admiration is evident in nearly all the coverage McCain has received, particularly since his campaign for the 2000 Republican nomination for president. The result has been a virtually indestructible media creation: the Myth of McCain. We call it a "myth" not to assert that all the themes that run through the coverage of McCain are plainly false. Rather, we use the term according to its dictionary definition, meaning the foundational set of precepts on which a belief system is based. Even as his 2008 campaign experienced some early stumbles and he did things that seemed to call into question the foundations of his image, the Myth of McCain remained intact. The myth consists of the following ideas:

• John McCain is a maverick.
• John McCain is a moderate.
• John McCain is a straight talker.
• John McCain is a reformer.
• John McCain doesn't do things just because they're politically expedient.
• Just about all you need to know about John McCain's character is that he showed courage as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
• John McCain has too much integrity to use his war record to his political advantage.

Some of these ideas have a basis in reality but have been wildly exaggerated; others are simply false. What is incontrovertible is that the press has continually foregrounded them at the expense of a more rounded and accurate portrait of McCain. Even when early problems on the 2008 campaign trail (such as lackluster fund-raising in the first quarter of 2007) resulted in some uncharacteristically critical coverage for McCain, the elements of the myth remained intact. What that period of more critical press showed was that even McCain's negative coverage is more positive than that which other candidates receive. Unlike other candidates, McCain finds that momentary controversies (as when he responded to a question about Iran by singing "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" to the tune of "Barbara Ann") are presented in isolation, unconnected to any alleged character flaws.

The contrast with other candidates is striking. When Mitt Romney makes a seemingly exaggerated claim about his history as a hunter, reporters connect the statement to doubts about whether Romney is genuine and sincere. When John Edwards gets an expensive haircut, reporters question whether he is a true populist and sufficiently substantive. The allegedly revealing incidents are contextualized by other similar incidents from the candidate's past and then brought up again and again in the future. In other words, the negative press of the moment is linked to what we are told are the candidates' significant flaws, the deficiencies in their character that "raise questions" about whether they are fit to be president.

Not so for John McCain. The very idea that McCain might have deficiencies of character that relate to his fitness to be president is never contemplated. The consequence is that a spate of bad coverage, whether over a temporarily struggling campaign or an intemperate remark, does nothing to undermine his prospects for a future comeback. Others find their worst moments replayed over and over, used to indict their character and highlight their flaws. But the John McCain portrayed in the media has no character flaws. He may say something dumb or be down in the polls, but his fundamental virtue is never questioned. If he is down, he is therefore always poised for a revival. If he panders, he will resume his admirable candor any day -- as an April 2007 column by David Broder of the Washington Post was titled, he'll be "Straight Talking Again." In an editorial two days later, Broder's newspaper wrote, "Whatever your position on the war, then or now, Mr. McCain deserves credit for foresight and consistency about how the war should have been waged . . . the 2008 race is better for having Mr. McCain in it." Even a flagging campaign can be presented as evidence of McCain's fundamental goodness; noting that McCain seemed "dispirited" in early 2007, Newsweek offered, "It may be because he is not, at heart, a politician. He is a warrior." When a reporter says someone is "not a politician," it is the highest compliment (and exceedingly odd if the man in question has been a politician for a quarter of a century).

Over his career, McCain has compiled a record that is far more complex than his media image. The fact of the matter is that John McCain is neither a moderate nor a maverick. McCain's voting record, his ideas, his values, and his rhetoric mark him as a stout conservative -- a description that he himself adheres to. And despite occasional acts of seeming apostasy, McCain has actually been a dependably loyal member of the Republican Party. A close examination of the occasions on which he does break with the GOP -- as on campaign finance reform, for instance -- reveals them to be not just carefully calculated, but both less substantively meaningful and less risky than the way they are portrayed in the media.

By reading heroic qualities in every facet of the Arizona senator, the media have failed to give the public an accurate portrait of McCain the politician. For here is a man who, in the end, is not much different from his colleagues in Congress in ambition, calculation, and attraction to power. John McCain has been in politics for twenty-five years now. He is currently in his fourth Senate term. He has been a major contender for the presidency and is one of the most visible legislators in recent history. An antipolitician he is not.

Yet McCain is distinct from his colleagues in some critical ways. More so than any other contemporary political figure, he has cracked the media code. His careful courting of the press has resulted in the very picture of him that most serves his ends, where every statement uttered, every position taken, even every external event seems to be characterized only in the way most complimentary to John McCain. He has obtained what every politician yearns for: a press corps that acts almost as a partner in his political ambitions.

The fawning coverage has barely abated even as McCain has made a very public hard tack to the right in preparing for his second run at the presidency. In an effort to win support among the Republican Party's conservative base, without which it will be nearly impossible for him to win the party's nomination for president, McCain has sought to be more vocal and demonstrative about his genuine conservatism -- a conservatism that, running in 2000 against the establishment candidate, George W. Bush, he was happy to see obscured as he made an effort to attract moderates. Despite such a shift, the media have continued to champion McCain as a moderate among ideologues and the straightest of straight talkers.

And though in late 2006 and early 2007 McCain did receive some unfavorable coverage as his campaign seemed to have trouble getting off the ground, the old affection was evident in a press corps seemingly eager for McCain to reignite the spirit of his 2000 run. "John McCain is back on the bus," proclaimed ABC's Nightline in March 2007. "And everywhere he goes, McCain takes on all comers, all questions. A rolling no-holds-barred political free-for-all, unlike most other American campaigns these days." When McCain said he had no choice but to do what's right, correspondent Terry Moran commented, "No other choice. That's pure John McCain. Blunt, unyielding, deploying his principles... What he does do is what he's always done, play it as straight as possible...The maverick candidate still. John McCain."

If tributes like that one were rarer on the 2008 campaign trail than they had been in the past, their continued presence highlighted the unique relationship between McCain and the media, a phenomenon that simply finds no comparison in modern politics. It is important to understand the phenomenon simply because of who McCain is. As the Republican nominee for president in 2008, John McCain stands as one of the most important figures on the American political landscape. Is the McCain that the media are giving us the McCain we're actually getting? Are the media covering McCain comprehensively, accurately, and thoughtfully -- qualities that we seek in all reportage on our leaders?

But the question of how the media cover McCain has larger implications that go beyond 2008. For the last three or four decades, the media have stood as the single most important institution in American electoral politics. It is the media, more than the parties (or, arguably, even the candidates themselves), that define the pictures that voters carry in their heads as they walk into the voting booth. The media's canonization of John McCain is an object lesson in their failure to serve the American public.

Comments

[AC500]

Thank God for the internet.

[nellie]

Amen.

[Steamboater]

What kind of straight talk is it when a man was against torture for so long and then for political expediency voted for it? Where's the honor in such a man venerated as honorable when he supports a reckless war without end and talks victory as if this is a WWII movie? The press has shown an abmominable lack of judgement in giving McCain a pass and you can start with Tweety Bird Mathews who even while calling Mccain on some issues then talked about him as almost godlike.
The problem of course stems from McCain's 'heroic' refusal to cave into his torturers while a POW in Vietnam. He's not untouchable though and the press needs to get over feeling he is. Neither is McCain a POW any more but he would put at risk those members of the armed services serving in Iraq because the man just doesn't care how long we have to be there. No one should have to die to feed a crazy old man's ego and fantasies of being the ultimate warrior.

[OhioPoBoy]

Friends who are Vietnam vets tell me that McCain actually made films for the Vietnamese that were worse than Hanoi Jane's remarks. If these films still exist, perhaps the Republican candidate deserves the same sort of swiftboating that John Kerry got.

[TeddySalad]

Kerry was "Swiftboated" with the truth. If McCain has done something like what you say, prove it and I will not vote for him...unti­l then...

[mcartri]

"Swiftboated"'s definition lies in the mind of the writer. To conservatives, it would mean attacking liberals with hard truths. For liberals, the original group would have been accurately named, "Swiftboat Liars for Bush". Would a conservative group consider it Swiftboating McCain if his adulterous affair that lead to a divorce and second marriage to a very rich, Cindy, was mentioned? I've asked about two-dozen people of various political persuasions if McCain was ever divorced. They all respond "no" or "I don't think so." So, where is McCain's base, The Media? Well, it's doing for McCain exactly what it did for Bush, reporting Big Lies as the truth and failing to report those inconvenient things called, "Facts". It did work rather well for Hitler's Third Reich. Didn't it?

[MajorKong]

I don't like John McCain, but if they'd done to me what they did to him I'd have been first in line to make those films.

[rudyinbama]

Time for another Saturday Night Live skit.

[andyboy]

David and Paul,

It's that fabled left-wing liberal media.

Does everybody forget that reporters have bosses? And the bosses tell the employees what to do? What to write? When to write and how to write it? If a guy signs your paycheck you do what your told or you are replaced.

When the entire media is owned by Fox and Clear Channel and GE how can you expect anytihng else but what your getting?

I think America is having a difficult time coming to terms with the collapse of it's democracy. We pine for the truth and commiserate about the good old days. As if this in itself were enough to change anything.

[cobraxus]

this just proves once and for all that the news media can be bought off for next to nothing.Th­e Clintons never trolled with the press of Washington Society(aka Sally Quinn)which is why they're so hated.Davi­d Broder(The Dean Of Washington Journalists and a bonafide right-wing whore)could publish a collection of love letters he's written to Karl Rove because that higher functioning autistic invited him to dinner!David Broder trashed The Clintons then spent the next 7 years drooling all over GWB and Company.Da­vid Broder sez "Be Warned President 44.Invite me to a lavish feast at your home or suffer the consequences!"

[PioneerKing]

Gentlemen:

'Looking forward to reading your book.
One has to swallow hard to keep the bile down when reading some of your colleagues' comments. Your colleagues are afraid to challenge McCain because he was a prisoner of war and, 90% of the press corps has never done military service.
Imagine if the press went after McCain - oh yeah, they tried last month. Doesn't anyone wonder why someone would go to ground the way Iseman has when they have nothing to hide? Iseman and McCain may not have engaged in illicit acts, perhaps there is more to the story given the comments that the CEO of the company has made.
On Capitol Hill, McCain is not one of the beloved members of the legislative branch due to the way he treats other members of congress and the minions who work on The Hill.
Your colleagues in the media have ignored how McCain has thrown his adopted daughter under the bus and courted "the agents of intoleranc­e."
Have you failed to notice how McCain does not mention her and is only photographed with his very blonde wife and blond daughter?
It was troubling to see McCain in New Hampshire on stage mentioning his blonde wife and blonde daughter and not mention his adopted daughter who was standing in the background holding a poster for McCain.
Sen. McCain's feet of clay are mired in the muck of self-absorption and political expediency.

[RAStewart]

My only quibble with this article is that I don't think the media's worship of McCain is unprecedented; it reminds me of the free ride Reagan got, from his first appearance on the national political scene to this day.

The corporate media in the United States are useless. But I don't see any demand from the American public for anything better. So in a sense, both in media and in government, we are getting what we deserve. (Or rather, we are all getting what the laziest and most ignorant among us deserve.)

[Citizen54]

The other night Chris Matthews, he of the homoerotic metaphors, claimed that McCain's military service gives him "the high moral ground." Unfortunately the press and voters buy into this notion as well.
Four more years, my friends. Four more years.

And if Brock & Waldman are reading these comments: Thanks for the book. I hope you sell half a billion of them.

[Star123]

Yes, Chris loves to blatt on about Grampy. To me, a prisoner who comes home is a survivor, not a hero necessarily. I survived a horrible crime--am I a hero of crime? I really don't mean that to sound so snarky--his ordeal was many years long and mine was one night. But this has been his claim to fame ever since. Now his service is the third-rail. Does anyone think of looking at the physical toll it took--he looks pretty frail to me. McCain is also disingenuous, forgetful, mean and to many people here in AZ, a slacker at his job and kind of nuts. But look at how I go on. Let me think--has anyone else gotten sort of a press pass? It starts with an "O."

[dsbsh]

Emphasis on "sort of." Obama received more favorable coverage than the other Democratic candidates-- until it became the kind of two-person race that the press could only dream about-- but nothing like the fawning lapdog treatment of McCain. All you have to do is compare the Rev. Wright controversy to the deafening silence over McCain's solicitation of Pat Robertson and, more recently, Hagee; and the casual dismissal of McCain's recent Iran-Al Qaeda misstatements.

[Mojane]

I agree with you entirely .... until your last 2 sentences. There might be a reason "O" has been given good press, with the exception of about 95% of talk radio and Fox News. What's not to like? He's an amazing man, with more character and honesty than the Clintons have in their 2 right feet. Actually, the Wright wrong will be endless along with any other misstep he takes, so don't worry, he's getting his due.

[MajorKong]

Of course, I don't remember Chris Matthews saying that when John Kerry was running for President. I guess only Republican military service grants "moral high ground" status.

[StillAmused]

McCain's finest hour expired when he was released from the Hanoi Hilton, and the MSM loves to run that grainy footage, referring to him as a "war hero".

Point of information: He was bombing people he couldn't see in North Vietnam, from 10,000 feet in a multi-mill­ion-dollar chunk of death-dealing technology, and is entitled ONLY to our sympathy for those years of abusive confinement at the hands of the locals... who tend to frown upon such pranks.

[combatveteran]

Right on!

[TeddySalad]

You forget, the Heroism title is not for becoming a prisoner, but that he CHOSE to stay with all the other prisoners and refused to be let go because his father was an Admiral. THAT is why they call him a hero, otherwise EVERYONE who is in a War is a hero, and I don't believe that.

[StillAmused]

"You forget, the Heroism title is not for becoming a prisoner, but that he CHOSE to stay with all the other prisoners.­.."

I see you missed my opening observatio­n... McCain's finest hour expired when he was released.

[BlueOnBlue]

I've been waiting for someone to look at McCain with something other than a worshipful attitude. This man has a past which suggests serious character flaws, making him a poor choice for the presidency. These flaws are glossed over with the image of him as a heroic prisoner of war. Looking at his past dispassionately, you see is a man who benefited from a privileged position as the son and grandson of 4-star admirals; a man who not only did not distinguish himself in his Naval Academy days but who developed a reputation as a party animal; a man who finished near the bottom of his class; a man who was so reckless he crashed THREE planes before being shot down after only 20 hours in combat: a man who returned from war and continued to party and to cheat repeatedly on his disabled wife, whom he sued for divorce while cheating on her with his present wife; a man who cozied up to corrupt individuals to further his career; and a man who continues to court big money interests while posing as a reformer. He is stubborn. He has a bad temper. And he has been vindictive toward those he thinks did him wrong. He is and has been a poser. The press likes this. Posing makes for good pictures, but it could make for a terrible president.

[BronxGOPer]

HuffPost's Pick

"you see is a man who benefited from a privileged position as the son and grandson of 4-star admirals"

But don't forget that McCain refused to benefit from these connections when it mattered most. After 2 yeras of torture, North Vietnam offered to set him free because his father was so prominent in order to get good will at the negotiation table. McCain REFUSED to accept special treatment, saying unless everyone was released he would stay. He was tortured for 3 more years. THAT is character,

[rmreddicks]

Has that story been vetted? I've never doubted it but I'd be interested to see it sourced.

[bogananda666]

The North Vietnamese stopped torturing prisoners in 1969. His Navy Admiral father had the UCMJ, Uniform Code of Military Justice, changed to prevent John from being prosecuted for the traitor that he was. It was retroactive. As far as being a hero for not accepting an early release, that's not heroic it's doing what he was supposed to do as a POW and McCain had no more or less character than all the other POW'S. I suppose that bombing Vietnamese civilians with napalm was a test of character also because he's never expressed remorse for BEING A WAR CRIMINAL.T­hat's a real man.

[BlueOnBlue]

The real story is that once it was discovered he had a high-ranking father, they gave McCain medical treatment which they weren't giving other POWs. Later, after his father was promoted to be in charge of all U.S. forces in Vietnam, the North Vietnamese offered to set him free. He quite honorably refused. While McCain deserves credit for this one moment in his life, he also deserves a good hard look before we make him a president. Many of his other actions, both before and after this brief moment in his life, show a man who sought advancement through his connections and who cheated on people close to him and who pretends to be something he is not.

[McSurgent]

John McCain has two sons serving in the military. One is deployed in Iraq. Yet he never talks about it on the campaign trail. When America hears the beautiful story about the adoption of their daughter from Bangeldash, Americans will be moved by John and Cindy McCain.

[wayoutleft]

mcpurge- you connies always play the shell game between upstanding family man and neandertha­l-on-issue­s. since mr magoo here has been nailed along with the press pansies who debase themselves before anyone military on the issues; lets polish up the family portrait..­. screw that. the military is trying to take control of this country and has to be stopped. it only figures that mccain would have kids that mindlessly follow the big mob going off to kill people again. americans are moved by 4000 of them dead. that's what americans are moved by- not some pol hiding behind an adopted daughter.

[BronxGOPer]

One of the disappointing things about the dialogue at HuffPo is that so much of it consists of name calling and personal attack. Too many people take politics far too personally. Just because someone disagrees with you does not make them evil or stupid. Volunteering to serve in the military does not make you mindless.

As it happens, while I respect McCain, I don’t necessarily like him. I like Barack Obama quite a lot, but I am not going to vote for him. I disagree with Obama about what policies are best for this country, but I believe Obama genuinely and sincerely disagrees with me. We can agree to disagree while I vote for McCain.

It’s a shame that there isn’t more intelligent rational debate on a site like this. We might all learn a thing or two.

[TheJibreelaMonsters]

there is this web page news outlet called the Huffington Post, they have been real hard on McCain

[bogananda666]

McCain the insane has taken a CAT scan and an MRI to ensure he has brain damage and he has which makes him the most qualified to claim being Ronald Reagoon's heir. Reagoon had Alzheimer's for at least his last term in office which proves that a Republican President doesn't need a brain and/or a mind and they prefer it that way. Testing the McCain brain ensures that he fit's the Republican Party's profile of not having a mind and/or brain. He's already showing signs of Alzheimer's and this put him in the forefront of the Republicans and even may put him a leg up on Reagoon as he would have it earlier than Reagoon did. Insane McCain with the diseased brain is a WAR CRIMINAL FOR BOMBING CIVILIANS IN Vietnam and a traitor for violating the UCMJ, Uniform Code of Military Justice who is such a coward that he wouldn't even protect his family from the insults and abuses of the Bush gang in 2000.

[Lonie]

John McCain gets to "move on" from his character flaws, even when the flaws don't move on. He was an opportunistic power grabber when he pursued his adulterous affair with his current wife and her politically connected Arizona family, and he remains so as he courts racists and religious bigots in the current election cycle. He shoots straight as long as it's straight to the White House, the prize he has lusted for almost as much as he lusts for shapely young blondes. Fact is, there is NOTHING uncalculating about John McCain and his ego-ridden campaign.

[McSurgent]

Will the Obama camp snatch this guy up. He has all kinds of good speech ideas!!!!

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

I don't know why the press is giving McCain such a free pass. The bottom line is that war is good for ratings and for it's corporate agenda of that of it's clients. McCain plans to continue Bush's war and probably start a war in Iran as well. The MSM has been destroyed with deregulation. There would be no Fox News without Bill Clinton's Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Well done for your expose on McCain. McCain and his maverick image is nothing but a myth. Another good book for anyone contemplating voting for this tired old war monger is McCain, the Myth of a Maverick:
http://www.amazon.com/McCain-Myth-Maverick-Matt-Welch/dp/0230603963
http://patterico.com/2008/02/04/john-mccain-the-most-electable-republican-as-long-as-you-dont-know-anything-about-him-can-we-maintain-the-fiction-through-november/

[bogananda666]

Insane McCain with the diseased Brain is of a cold warrior mentality. He would stock his administration with the cold warriors from the Reagoon and the Bush's regimes. The militarists have to get over that the cold war ended 20 years ago although they want to resurrect it or its equivalent even if they create it themselves, which is what they are doing. The fascist Americans invent their own enemies just like Hitler and the Nazi's did.