The constant reference to 'my good friend' by many Senators bespeaks of a club atmosphere and it is just that, a ckub.
I don't want to see them attack each other but Senators can give information on voting records and deliberations without having to constantly stroke each other.
McCain appears always to be spending 90% of his interview time defending his senate colleagues or stroking them. He gives very little info that can't be predicted beforehand, hence he comes across as a waste of time. Many Senators appear uninformative and stroking although there are some notable exceptions.
McCain needed to tell the viewers what kind of votes Edwards and Kerry make on healthcare, military etc. He needed to distinguish their base from Bush's base. He needed to emphasize Edwards is supported 80% by trial lawyers and so on. Did he do any of that?
Why can't the challenge the "statements", lies, actually, made by their fellow colleagues?
Kennedy, for example, is an outright liar that poses a distinct threat to the US military personnel in foreign lands
when he takes to the Senate floor to bloviate.
But not one Senator takes him to task. Maybe the occasional Represenative will offer criticism, but no one in the Senate.
Likewise with Leahy. He lied to Strom Thurmond's face, yet no criticism was forth coming.
It's too much of a club, where anything goes. They certainly aren't upholding their fiduciary duty.
McCain? He's been seduced by the limelight, and really should retire, but if he does, he loses the limelight.
It's about him now, than serving both NM, and as a US Senator, the rest of the country.