Free Ride: John McCain and the Media

by David Brock, Paul Waldman

We live in a gotcha media culture that revels in exposing the foibles and hypocrisies of our politicians. But one politician manages to escape this treatment, getting the benefit of the doubt and a positive spin for nearly everything he John McCain. Indeed, even during his temporary decline in popularity in 2007, the media continued to support him by lamenting his fate rather than criticizing the flip flops and politicking that undermined his popular image as a maverick.David Brock and Paul Waldman show how the media has enabled McCain's rise from the Keating Five scandal to the underdog hero of the 2000 primaries to his roller-coaster run for the 2008 nomination. They illuminate how the press falls for McCain's “straight talk” and how the Arizona senator gets away with inconsistencies and misrepresentations for which the media skewers other politicians. This is a fascinating study of how the media shape the political debate, and an essential book for every political junkie.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

David^Brock.

There is more than one author by this name in the database.

David Brock is a journalist currently living in Washington, DC. He started out in professional journalism with a piece in "The Wall Street Journal", that caught the attention of John Podhoretz, who was assigned with starting a magazine for the conservative daily newspaper, "The Washington Times".

He worked as a news reporter for a while at "Insight" (the Washington Times' magazine) until eventually moving up to work for the paper, itself. His prominence in the conservative movement as a journalist got him a job at the American Spectator. During his time at the Spectator, Brock became very well known for filing "hatchet jobs" against then-President Bill Clinton (William Jefferson Clinton) and the first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

He wrote the hugely popular book, "The Real Anita Hill", which attempted to paint Anita Hill (who accused Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment while he was being confirmed to the Court) as being a liar who could not be trusted (Brock labeled her "a bit nutty and a bit slutty").

He eventually "broke" with the conservatives and went on to try to make amends for his character assassination and fabrication of the truth while he was in the movement.

He detailed these fabrications and denounced much of his own earlier work in his 2002 book, "Blinded By The Right".

He is now the CEO and founder of "Media Matters for America", a progressive media watchdog group thats mission is to find and correct conservative misinformation in the mainstream press.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Regis

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Above all, this book does well in illustrating how JM's major flaws are really under-emphasized in spite of how disastrous they could be if he won the presidency (even though he has some killer one-liners.) However, here's the STRAIGHT TALK: the arguments are loosely organized at best and tend to be repetitive. For example, I will never in my life forget that journalists overdo the "maverick" thing in re: to JM, as though that wasn't already evident to anyone paying the least bit of attention to coverage of the senator.

[Doc]

good behind the scenes press stories about McCain - reinforces my view that his temper will be an election issue

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

God what suckers we all are. Easy to blame the media whores who ride on the "Straight Talk Express" bus and eat barbecue w/JM but we swallow it whole when they spew out their fluff.

The media never have called him on his stuff, and only now are we beginning to see some of the truth. The guy is truly scary, and if you can get past that, this is a terrific study of how the media manipulates our political process.

I'm a political junkie who is cynical and disillusioned, yet keep coming back to my Pollyanna ways (yes, Tinkerbell, clap your hands if you believe in fairies, maybe there WILL be a new President who is someone we can look up to, admire, be proud of" - hell I would settle for having a Pres who is just someone I am not ashamed of.

[Mom · Rating 2 out of 5]

My son passed this book on to me. It details how this author feels that John McCain has been given a free ride by the media by befriending the press. It suggests he uses his POW experiences in a very calculated way for maximum benefit. I'm not sure the case for John McCain's free ride is any different than the case that could be made for other candidates. Face it, all politicians travel the country saying what they think the people in each part of the country want to hear. Right now, Obama's campaign is trying to reshape the image of his wife, Michelle. They all use whatever tricks will benefit their campaign. It's the nature of politics. I seriously doubt that John McCain will get through this campaignfor president with a "free ride".

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, well researched, and well timed. I had no idea McCain is really as bad of a person as he is, and as brilliant of a politician. Frightening - a must read for anybody looking for talking points for the '08 presidential election.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is exhausting, but it provides ample evidence that the 2008 version of John McCain is an utter fraud, and the media is still over-the-moon in love with him. The examples of his run-ins with Arizona media and local potentates were the most compelling to me.

[Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, the "Maverick" myth needed debunking.

[Michael Stickings · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful debunking of the Myth of McCain.

[Uncle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gained a lot of info in political discussions leading up to the election with this book.

Well cited...

Problem is the people you are likely to argue with don't care much about the facts.

[WallofText · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting! A bit of a product of its time both in content and in writing style ( his or her rather than their phrasing everywhere), but a lot of deep analysis and thought in here. A bit repetitive at times but overall a compelling read!