McCain sacrificed and suffered greatly for his country, and through that part of his life, he was a hero. There are a bunch of folks that try to tear that down, but I will not. However, his political career has been filled with betrayal, corruption, and even treason. Like Benedict Arnold, he was a hero who betrayed us.
He graduated near the bottom of his class at the Academy, he was bailed out of trouble repeatedly by his family connections, and he cooperated with the enemy when he was captured. He was never a hero. He was always out for himself, and always used whatever he could to get himself out of trouble but never others. That's pretty much the opposite of a hero.
Although I must say, we don’t know what really happened with McCain in Vietnam.
We only know what the media has told us.