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In-Depth Interview: Author Cliff Schecter Reveals “The Real McCain”

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In the wake of Sen. John McCain’s “heroic” vote to block Obamacare repeal, author, activist and political consultant Cliff Schecter gives some straight talk about McCain.Schecter’s 2008 book, The Real McCain, recaps the early career of McCain.  Schecter notes that McCain has occasionally lived up to his “maverick” tag but his actions mostly don’t match his words, especially around election time.

In this interview, we talk about the corporate media’s fawning over McCain, intensified since his diagnosis with terminal brain cancer.  While the Arizona senator is portrayed as a “hero” for his vote to kill Obamacare repeal, Schecter notes that his votes to allow debate, and in favor of several repeal bills that failed, reveal this contradiction.

We touch on his VP pick from 2008, Sarah Palin, whose antics paved the way for the insults and chaos of Trump; his powerful condemnation of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell in 2000 that was reversed by 2003; his work on McCain-Feingold campaign finance, which he later walked away from; his opposition to torture, which was buried during campaigns; and his consistent hawkishness, particularly on Iraq and Syria.