I was more impressed with his ability to make contact with the audience than his actual answers. Not only did he make his answers forceful and direct but they were from a real person with real views. Not canned, poll driven responses.
By the way I see Senator McCain as a latter day Velveteen Rabbit. He is real because he has experienced life--both ups and downs--both devotion to others and devotion to oneself. He is also real because he is loved by many.
I think I will refer to Senator McCain as my "Velveteen Rabbit" when I think about him. Williams's timeless tale was written in the early 1920's. It lives once again in a political campaign. He looks dilapidated and worn, but that is the way you look when you are real. Every story, after all, is eventually a love story.
shrinkermd, your analogy to the Velveteen Rabbit was beautiful. I think you hit something there. I have been aggravated at McCain, as most people on this site know, for years. It seemed like he was always around grousing about something or throwing a wrench in the works.
Yet, when I looked at him last night, I saw a guy who really does care about the country and is doing what he thinks is right. It made me reconsider my thinking and remember a lesson I keep forgetting: two people (like Rumsfeld and McCain) can both be doing their best and yet disagree. It doesn’t mean either is a bad man.