Der FlipFlopFuhrer McCain, once a folk hero, bombs prime time

[Ian David]

John McCain, once a folk hero, bombs prime time

Michelle Cottle , The New Republic
Published: Thursday, March 01, 2007

So I was chatting with this old-guard conservative pundit about life, love, and the sorry state of the Republican Party, when he started talking about Senator John McCain's now infamous January 21 appearance on "Meet the Press". You know the one: where the ordinarily feisty McCain looked grim and pasty and sounded suspiciously like he'd downed one too many of whatever it is they dose Laura Bush with before she makes her glassy-eyed public appearances.

Anyway, said conservative noted that when you read the transcript of the segment, McCain doesn't come off so badly. It's only when you actually see the senator in action (or lack thereof) that the phrase "death warmed over" leaps to mind. He compared it to the Kennedy-Nixon debates of 1960, where radio listeners gave Nixon a slight edge while TV viewers overwhelmingly favored JFK. Unfortunately, Mr. Conservative informed me with an air of casual authority, this points to a larger problem for McCain, which is that the senator doesn't wear makeup for media appearances because of his history of recurrent skin cancer.

This struck me as a potentially big deal. A presidential candidate who won't get dolled-up for the cameras? The notion is almost as absurd as a candidate who won't smooch donor-backside in exchange for campaign cash. So I called McCain's top spokesgal, Eileen McMenamin, to ask about the senator's makeup aversion. Not true, she told me in no uncertain terms. Not true. Not true. Not true. McMenamin's exact words were, in fact, "utterly ridiculous."

More:
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=fdb0d8c2-649b-417c-bc6d-444ebd7e69a8