Isn’t McCain one of the original Keating Five?
Yes.
And a Manchurian Candidate to boot.
I hold to this day the belief that McCain did not want to be president; he had a much wealthier senate seat, on the gravy train, keeping status quo. When he started to gain momentum, he stopped, and really started trying to lose - and succeeded. I’d even wager it goes all the way back to Dole.