“When I found out why McCarthy was hated so much, it was a shock to realize how easy it was to get people to go along with politically orchestrated character assassinations.”
There are two words (sadly) which may help clear away some of the confusion.
Ryan and Boehner
At a scholarly and conservative brown bag working group the consensus was reached that McCarthy had the right message, but McCarthy was the wrong messenger. McCarthy’s alcoholism was exploited by the opposition.
Doesn’t matter what side the exploiters are working for, the practice seems common enough.