Psychological reflections on Barack Obama and John McCain: Assessing the contours of a new presidential administration

Political Science Quarterly

Volumn 123, Issue 3, 2008, Pages 391-433

  Renshon, Stanley A ^a  

^a CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK   (United States)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 54149109365     PISSN: 00323195     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1002/j.1538-165X.2008.tb00629.x     Document Type: Review

References (250)

1. In my analysis of Obama, I focus on his first book, Dreams From my Father, rather than on his second, The Audacity of Hope. The latter draws its title and much of its analysis from a speech that Obama gave before the Democratic National Convention in 2004 and was written at a time when he clearly had presidential aspirations in mind. It is therefore much less useful as a relatively early and unvarnished reflection of his psychology and worldview than his first book.
2. Michiko Kakutani, who reviewed the second book for The New York Times, said that it is, "much more of a political document. Portions of the volume read like outtakes from a stump speech."
3. See Michiko Kakutani, "Obama's Foursquare Politics, With a Dab of Dijon," The New York Times, 17 October 2006.
4. Jon Cohen and Dan Balz, "U.S. Outlook Is Worst Since '92, Poll Finds," 13 May 2008, accessed on the website of the The Washington Post at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/ postpoll_051208.html?sid=ST2008051201102, 20 May 2008.
5. For a recent argument that expectations for presidential actions have exceeded both the bounds of reasonableness and constitutional limits, see Gene Healy, The Cult of the Presidency: America's Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power (Washington DC: CATO Institute, 2008).
6. Lydia Saad, "Disapproval of Bush Spans the Issues," Gallup Online, 25 February 2008.
7. NBC/JSJ Poll, November 2007, Question 12. Accessed online at http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/news/071107_NBC-WSJ_Full.pdf, 2 December 2007.
8. Cf. NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll, December 2007, Question 17b. Accessed online at http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/wsjnbcpoll20071219. pdf, 3 January 2008.
9. NBC/JSJ Poll, November 2007, Question 22. Accessed online at http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/news/071107_NBC-WSJ_Full.pdf, 3 December 2007.
10. For an extensive discussion of how this trend developed through the presidency of William J. Clinton, see Stanley A. Renshon, The Psychological Assessment of Presidential Candidates (New York: New York University Press, 1998), 38-41.
11. Robin Toner, "Obama's Test: Can a Liberal Be a Unifier?" The New York Times, 25 March 2008.
12. Brian Friel, Richard E. Cohen, and Kirk Victor, "Obama: Most Liberal Senator In 2007," National Journal, 31 January 2008.
13. Michael Powell, "Man in the News: Calm in the Swirl of History," The New York Times, 4 June 2008;
14. see also Alec MacGillis, "In Obama's New Message, Some Foes See Old Liberalism," The Washington Post, 26 March 2008; A01.
15. Susan David,"WSJ/NBC Poll Shows Change Trumps Experience," The Wall Street Journal, 11 June 2008. The complete poll was accessed at http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/WSJ_NBC_SURVEY_June2008.pdf, 3 July 2008.
16. Renshon, The Psychological Assessment, 186-194.
17. Her father had fervently wished for a son. Useful profiles of his mother are: Janny Scott, "A Free Spirited Wanderer Who Set Obama's Path," The New York Times, 14 March 2008;
18. Tim Jones, "Barack Obama: Mother not just a girl from Kansas," Chicago Tribune, 27 March 2007;
19. and Amanda Ripley, "The Story of Barack Obama's Mother, Time, 9 April 2008.
20. At a conference he attended at Harvard with Gerald Kelman, the man who had brought him to Chicago, he confided the lessons he had learned from his father's life: "the elder Obama had returned to his native Kenya bursting with intellect and ambition, only to devolve into an embittered bureaucrat because he couldn't find a way to reconcile his ideals with political realities." Quoted in Bob Secter and John McCormick, "Portrait of a Pragmatist," Chicago Tribune, 30 March 2007;
21. see also Obama, Dreams, 217, 344.
22. Obama, Dreams, 60.
23. Ibid., 75.
24. Ibid.
25. Ibid., 94.
26. Quoted in Ripley, "The Story of Barack Obama's Mother.
27. Ibid.
28. Obama, Dreams, xii.
29. Kirsten Scharnberg and Kim Barker, "The not-so-simple story of Barack Obama's youth," Chicago Tribune, 25 March 2007.
30. Obama, Dreams, 53.
31. Ibid., 95.
32. Ibid.
33. Later in that confrontation over Obama's lack of ambition, his mother warned him against becoming a "good-time Charlie." Obama wrote that he replied, "A good-time Charlie, huh? Well, why not? Maybe that's what I want out of life ... Is that what you're worried about? That I'll end up like Gramps?" See Obama, Dreams, 95.
34. Former federal judge Abner Mikva, a longtime Obama mentor, said of Obama, "I think he sees this as a challenge every day, that I want to do better than my father," Quoted in Kevin Merida, "The Ghost of a Father," The Washington Post, 14 December 2007;
35. See also Bob Secter and John McCormick, "Portrait of a Pragmatist," Chicago Tribune, 30 May 2007;
36. Obama, Dreams, 217, 344; and, note 23.
37. Quoted in Ibid. (emphasis added); see also Obama, Dreams, 227.
38. Janny Scott, "Obama's Account of New York Years Often Differs from What Others Say," The New York Times, 30 October 2007.
39. Quoted in Secter and McCormick, "Portrait of a Pragmatist."
40. Ibid.
41. Quoted in David Jackson and Ray Long, "Obama Knows His Way Around a Ballot" Chicago Tribune, 3 April 2007.
42. Robinson quoted in Liza Mundy, "A Series of Fortunate Events," The Washington Post, 12 August 2007.
43. Ibid.
44. Jodi Kantor, "In Law School, Obama Found Political Voice," The New York Times, 28 January, 2007;
45. see also Michael Levenson and Jonathan Saltzman, "At Harvard Law, a unifying voice," Boston Globe, 28 January 2007.
46. When attorney Judson Miner, who headed a Chicago civil rights-focused firm, called Obama to offer him a job, the woman who answered the phone at the Harvard Law Review told him, "You can leave your name and take a number. You're No. 647." Quoted in Mike Robinson, "Obama got start in civil rights practice," Boston Globe, 20 February 2007.
47. Ibid.
48. Quoted in Peter Slevin, "Obama Forged Political Mettle In Illinois Capitol," The Washington Post, 9 February 2007.
49. Rick Pearson and Ray Long, "Careful steps, looking ahead," Chicago Tribune, 3 May 2007;
50. see also Janny Scott, "In Illinois, Obama Proved Pragmatic and Shrewd," The New York Times, 30 July 2007.
51. Quoted in Scott, "In Illinois."
52. Ibid.
53. Mark Leibovich, "The Senator's Humble Beginning: Rising Star Barack Obama Is Resolutely Down to Earth," The Washington Post, 24 February 2005.
54. Mike Doming and Christi Parsons, "Carefully crafting the Barack Obama 'brand': From his first days in the U.S. Senate, the Illinoisan has followed a strategy envisioning a White House bid," Chicago Tribune, 12 June 2007.
55. Janny Scott, "The Story of Obama, Written by Obama," The New York Times, 18 May 2008.
56. Marie C. Kodama, "Obama Left Mark on HLS," Harvard Crimson, 19 January 2007.
57. Jonathan Kaufman, "For Obama, Chicago Days Honed Tactics," The Wall Street Journal, 21 April 2008.
58. Garrett M. Gaff, "The Legend of Barack Obama," The Washingtonian, 1 November 2006.
59. Ryan Lizza, "The Agitator," The New Republic, 19 March 2007.
60. Michael Powell, "Deliberative in a Manic Game," The New York Times, 4 June 2008.
61. Ryan Lizza, "Making It: How Chicago Shaped Obama," The New Yorker, 21 July 2008.
62. Powell, "Deliberative in a Manic Game."
63. Review and Outlook, "The Obama We Don't Know," The Wall Street Journal, 4 June 2008.
64. David Jackson and Ray Long, "Showing his bare knuckles," Chicago Tribune, 4 April 2007;
65. David Jackson and Ray Long, "Obama knows his way around a ballot: Some say bis ability to play political hardball goes back to his first campaign," Chicago Tribune, 3 April 2007.
66. Ibid.
67. Powell, "Deliberative in a Manic Game."
68. Obama writes in his memoir that his Chicago mentor, Marty Kaufman, while interviewing him for the organizing job, said, "You must be angry about something." Obama asked him what he meant and Kaufman replied, "I don't know what exactly, but something. Don't get me wrong - anger's a requirement for the job. The only reason that anybody decides to become an organizer. Well-adjusted people find more relaxing work." See Obama, Dreams, 141.
69. Jonathan Weisman, "Obama's Gloves Are Off - And May Need to Stay Off," The Washington Post, 23 April 2008.
70. Hank De Zutter, "What Makes Obama Run?," Chicago Reader, 8 December 1995.
71. Toner, "Obama's Test."
72. Avi Zenilman and Ben Smith, "Barack Obama's counterpunching style," The Politico, 14 April 2008.
73. Transcript, "Democratic Debate in Philadelphia," The New York Times, 16 April 2008.
74. Mark Memmott and Jill Lawrence, "Obama launches tour to highlight 'judgment, experience' on Iraq," USA Today, 1 October 2007.
75. Transcript of Obama interview with NPR All Things Considered "Iran Requires Direct Diplomacy," 13 October 2007, accessed at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15251928, 3 November 2007.
76. "Remarks of Illinois State Senator Barack Obama Against Going to War with Iraq," 2 October 2002, accessed on Barack Obama's website at http://www.barackobama.com/2002/10/02/remarks_of_illinois_state_sen.php, 1 August 2008.
77. Kenneth Pollack, The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq (New York: Random House, 2002).
78. "Remarks of Illinois State Senator."
79. Liza Mundy, "A Series of Fortunate Events," The Washington Post, 12 August 2007.
80. Jodi Kantor, "In Law School."
81. Quoted in Powell, "Deliberative in a Manic Game."
82. Slevin, "Obama Forged Political Mettle."
83. Kantor, "In Law School."
84. Levenson and Saltzman, "At Harvard Law."
85. Quoted in Fox Butterfield, "First Black Elected to Head Harvard's Law Review," The New York Times, 6 February 1990.
86. Ibid.
87. Larissa MacFarquhar, "The Conciliator," The New Yorker, 7 May 2007.
88. Obama, Dreams, 80-81, 100, 105.
89. Ibid., 79.
90. Ibid., 293.
91. Derek Kravitz and Keith B. Richburg, "Obama Quits Longtime Church Over Inflammatory Comments," The Washington Post, 1 June 2008.
92. "Transcript: Illinois Senate Candidate Barack Obama," The Washington Post, 27 July 2004.
93. The composite reflected 99 key votes and assigned scores in three areas: economic issues, social issues, and foreign policy. See Friel, Cohen, and Victor, "Obama: Most Liberal Senator."
94. Toner, "Obama's Test."
95. Editorial, "The Obama Enigma: Where Would he Lead?," The Washington Post, 24 February 2008.
96. Ibid.
97. James Fallows, "Two Rhetorical Missteps by Team Obama," The Atlantic, 22 April 2008.
98. As one editorial put it, "He dared to mention the notion of 'merit pay' in an appearance before the teachers union." See editorial, "The Obama Enigma."
99. Obama: Issues: Education, accessed at http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ education/#teachers, 2 August 2008.
100. David Brooks, "Obama, liberalism and the Power of Reform," The New York Times, 13 June 2008.
101. Robert J. Samuelson, "A Vote for McBama," The Washington Post, 11 June 2008.
102. Alec MacGillis, "Finding Political Strength in the Power of Words," The Washington Post, 26 February 2008.
103. Bradford Berenson, a Washington lawyer and former associate counsel in the Bush administration, says of Obama, "This is a very gifted individual who has a way with words and an interest and ability in communication." Quoted in Ibid.
104. Kate Zernike, "The Charisma Mandate," The New York Times, 17 February 2008;
105. see also Timothy Noah, "The Obama Messiah Watch," Slate, 29 January 2007.
106. Joe Klein, "Inspiration vs. Substance," Time, 7 February 2008;
107. See also Sebastian Mallaby, "Obama's Missing Ideas," The Washington Post, 25 February 2008
108. and Michael Gerson, "Words Aren't Cheap," The Washington Post, 29 February 2008.
109. Peter Applebome, "Is Eloquence Overrated?" The New York Times, 13 January 2008.
110. Stephen F. Hayes, "Obama and the Power of Words," The Wall Street Journal, 26 February 2008.
111. Ibid.
112. Barack Obama, "Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: Final Primary Night," 3 June 2008.
113. These terms are developed in Renshon, The Psychological Assessment, 226-228.
114. For the psychological and strategic considerations behind Clinton's stance for governing in a divided society, see Stanley A. Renshon, High Hopes: The Clinton Presidency and the Politics of Ambition (New York: Routledge, 1998), Introduction, chap. 1.
115. Stanley A. Renshon, In His Father's Shadow: The Transformations of George W. Bush (New York: Palgrave/Macmillan, 2004), chap. 6.
116. Fred I. Greenstein, Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader (New York: Harper-Collins, 1982).
117. Shailagh Murray, "Obama to Accept Nomination at Broncos' Stadium," The Washington Post, 8 July 2008.
118. Joan Vennochi, "The audacity of ego," Boston Globe, 20 July 2008.
119. Toner, "Obama's Test."
120. Jonathan Weisman, "Obama May Consider Slowing Iraq Withdrawal Candidate Says He Remains Committed to Ending War," The Washington Post, 4 July 2008.
121. The figures and characterizations that follow are drawn from: The Pew Center for the People & the Press, "Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007," 22 March 2007, accessed at http://people-press.org/ reports/pdf/312.pdf, 1 June 2008.
122. Quoted in Toner, "Obama's Test."
123. George C. Edwards III, On Deaf Ears: The Limits of the Bully Pulpit (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006).
124. Quoted in Toner, "Obama's Test."
125. Kenneth P. Vogel, "Obama: Change agent goes conventional," The Politico, 27 June 2008.
126. David Espo, "Bipartisanship marks McCain's Senate tenure," Associated Press, 2 July 2008.
127. Among the more benign criticisms are claims that "he is too quick to play bipartisan polka with liberals like Sen. Ted Kennedy when he should be holding the line for common sense conservatism." See Melanie Morgan, "The Problem with John McCain," Human Events, 4 February 2008;
128. see also Cliff Schecter, The Real McCain: Why Conservatives Don't Trust Him - and Why Independents Shouldn't (Sausalito, CA: Polipoint Press, 2008).
129. Jake Tapper provides a good illustration of this approach in his article focused on background checks for gun buyers at gun shows. In the end McCain brokered an agreement between what some GOP members wanted (" voluntary" checks) and what some opponents wanted (a three-day waiting period when a gun show didn't last that long) that called for instant but mandatory checks on gun buyers. See Jake Tapper, "How Tough is John McCain?," Salon, 14 May 1999.
130. Michael D. Shear, "Democrat Assails McCain on Drilling," The Washington Post, 21 June 2008.
131. Charles Krauthammer, "McCain's Oil Epiphany," The Washington Post, 20 June 2008;
132. see also Ann Coulter, "McCain: Pump This!," Townhall.com, 3 July 2008.
133. Laura Meckler, "Senator's Broad Range of Energy Policies Defies Categories," The Wall Street Journal, 24 June 2008.
134. Robert Kagan, "Neocon Nation: Neoconservativism, c 1776," World Affairs (Spring 2008): 13-35;
135. and the exchange that followed, David Rieff, George Packer, Ronald Steel, and Robert Kagan, "An Exchange: Neocon Nation?" World Affairs (Summer 2008): 12-25.
136. John McCain with Mark Slater, Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir (New York: Random House, 1999), 17-19.
137. Ibid., 19.
138. Ibid., 20.
139. Ibid., 51.
140. Ibid., 58.
141. Ibid.
142. Ibid., 76.
143. Ibid.
144. Tapper, "How Tough."
145. Calvin Woodward, "McCain's WMD is a mouth that won't quit," Associated Press, 11 March 2007; for more details of his years as a prisoner of war, see also Steve Huntley, "Bad time to question McCain's qualifications," Chicago Tribune, 4 July 2008.
146. McCain's recollection of this period is found in McCain, Faith, 288-349.
147. McCain, Worth Fighting For, 13-14.;
148. see also Nicholas D. Kristoff, "P.O.W to Power Broker, A Chapter Most Telling," The New York Times, 27 February 2007.
149. McCain, Worth Fighting For, 386, 388-389.
150. Ibid., 328.
151. Dan Nowicki and Bill Muller, "McCain becomes the 'maverick,'" Arizona Republic, 1 March 2007.
152. McCain, Faith, 31.
153. Ibid., 70.
154. Elsewhere he called it "a place I belonged but dreaded." See McCain, Faith, 108, 117.
155. Robert Timberg, John McCain: An American Odyssey (New York: Free Press, 1995), 23.
156. McCain, Faith, 111.
157. Timberg, American Odyssey, 27.
158. Quoted in Paul Alexander, Man of the People: The Maverick Life and Career of John McCain (New York: John Wiley, 2008), 17 (emphasis in original).
159. McCain, Faith, 100, 107.
160. Ibid., 22.
161. Ibid., 54.
162. Ibid., 57.
163. Ibid., 1116; see also Timberg, American Odyssey, 37-38.
164. Laura Meckler, "McCain Gives Unvarnished View of His Past," Wall Street Journal, 5 April 2008;
165. see also Michael Cooper, "A McCain Confessional, in Multiple Installments," The New York Times, 6 April 2008;
166. Michael D. Sheer, "McCain Recalls his Wild Youth," The Washington Post, 2 April 2008;
167. McCain, Faith, 100-152;
168. Timberg, American Odyssey, 37-38, 39-60.
169. Timberg, American Odyssey, 36.
170. McCain, Faith, 71.
171. Ibid., 20.
172. Ibid.
173. Quoted in Cooper, "A McCain Confessional."
174. Ibid.
175. The details of his experience can be found in McCain, Faith, chap. 16-28;
176. Timberg, American Odyssey, chap. 6-8;
177. and Alexander, Man of the People, chap. 3.
178. McCain, Faith, 347.
179. Ralph Vartabedian, "John McCain returned from Vietnam determined to lead," Los Angeles Times, 14 April 2008. Others called the physical rehabilitation therapy "brutal," a description that seems apt. See Kristoff, "P.O.W to Power Broker."
180. Dan Nowicki and Bill Muller, "Back in the USA," Arizona Republic, 1 March 2007.
181. Timberg, An American Odyssey, 138.
182. Ibid., 139; see also Kristoff, "P.O.W to Power Broker."
183. Kristoff, "P.O.W to Power Broker."
184. Ibid.
185. McCain returned to the United States as something of a celebrity. His return was pictured on the front page of the The New York Times, there was a White House reception with President Nixon and a first-person account of his experiences published in U.S. News and World Report.
186. See Nowiki and Muller, "Back in the USA"; See also Timberg, American Odyssey, 117-129.
187. Timberg, American Odyssey, 139.
188. Ibid., 76-79.
189. McCain, Worth Fighting For, 3-5.
190. Quoted in Timberg, American Odyssey, 128.
191. Daniel J. Levinson, The Seasons of a Man's Life (New York: Knopf, 1978).
192. McCain, Worth Fighting For, 10.
193. Dan Nowicki and Bill Muller "Arizona, the early years," Arizona Republic, 1 March 2007.
194. Timberg, An American Odyssey, 149.
195. David D. Kirkpatrick, "Power and Allure Attracted McCain to the Senate," The New York Times, 29 May 2008.
196. Dan Nowicki and Bill Muller, "Who is John McCain?" Arizona Republic, 1 March 2007.
197. Tony Allen, "John McCain urged to play up his personal life and war heroics," The Sunday Times (London), 4 May 2008;
198. see Juliet Eilperin, "McCain reflects on His POW Experience," The Washington Post, 1 July 2008;
199. see also Karl Rove, "Getting to Know John McCain," Wall Street Journal, 30 April 2008.
200. Jodi Kantor, "McCain Is Vocal on War, but Silent on Son's Service," The New York Times, 6 April 2008.
201. Mark Leibovich, "McCain Battles a Nemesis, the Teleprompter," The New York Times, 6 July 2008.
202. Debra Saunders, "McCain straight talk need sizzle," San Francisco Chronicle, 24 June 2008.
203. Class standing was determined not only by grades, but also scores on conduct and leadership, two areas in which he did not excel.
204. Timberg, An American Odyssey, 54.
205. McCain, Faith, 116.
206. Timberg, An American Odyssey, 71-72.
207. Michael Leahy, "McCain: A Question of Temperament," The Washington Post, 20 April 2008.
208. McCain, Worth Fighting For, 62.
209. Leahy, "McCain: A Question of Temperament."
210. Ernest May and Phillip P. Zelikow, The Kennedy Tapes (New York: W.W. Norton, 2002).
211. Timberg, American Odyssey, 161.
212. Jennifer Steinhaur, "Bridging 2 Marriages and 4 Decades, a Large Close-Knit Brood," The New York Times, 27 December 2007.
213. Sasha Issenberg, "Shaped after Saigon's fall: Return visits to Vietnam helped mold McCain as a conciliator," Boston Globe, 23 June 2008.
214. Espo, "Bipartisanship marks McCain's Senate tenure."
215. Dan Balz and Shailagh Murray, "The War Within Sen. McCain: Vocal Supporter of Bush Is Increasingly Critical, Isolated," The Washington Post, 13 January 2007.
216. George F. Will, "McCain's Housing Restraint," The Washington Post, 6 April 2008.
217. Quoted in Tapper, "How Tough."
218. Regarding Kosovo, McCain said, "We're in it, we must win it." Quoted in Timberg, American Odyssey, 205.
219. Michael Powell, "For Obama a Pragmatist's Shift to the Center," The New York Times, 27 June 2008.
220. Howard Kurtz, "Pretzel Logic," The Washington Post, 27 June 2008;
221. see also Liz Sidoti, "McCain backs gun decision, Obama straddles issue," Associated Press, 26 June 2008.
222. Jose Antonio Vargas, "Obama Defends Compromise on New FISA Bill," The Washington Post, 4 July 2008.
223. Nina Easton, "Obama: NAFTA not so bad after all," Fortune, 18 June 2008.
224. David S. Broder, "Getting to Know Obama," The Washington Post, 22 June 2000.
225. Weisman, "Obama May Consider."
226. Daniel Dombey and Edward Luce, "Obama camp signals robust approach on Iran," Financial Times, 1 July 2008.
227. Jonathan Karl, "Obama's Evolving Position on Iran," ABC News, 4 June 2008.
228. Teddy Davis, Sunlen Miller, and Gregory Wallace, "Obama Kisses Millions Goodbye," ABC News, 18 June 2008.
229. Ruth Marcus, "Patriot Games," The Washington Post, 25 June 2008.
230. Jonathan Weisman, "In Campaign, One Man's Pragmatism Is Another's Flip-Flopping," The Washington Post, 28 June 2008.
231. Karl Rove, "It's All About Obama," The Wall Street Journal, 26 June 2008.
232. Powell, "Deliberative in a Manic Game."
233. Liza Mundy, "A Series of Fortunate Events," The Washington Post, 12 August 2007.
234. Stanley A. Renshon, "The Political Mind: Obama denounces flag-pin patriotism," The Politico, 10 October 2007.
235. Jonathan Alter, "Obama's Vulnerability," Newsweek, 16 April 2008.
236. Carrie Budoff Brown, "Barack Obama's flip side revealed," The Politico, 14 April 2008.
237. Mayhill Fower, "Obama: No Need for Foreign Policy Help from V.P.," Huffington Post, 7 April 2008 (emphasis in original).
238. John M. Broder, "The Great Seal of Obamaland?" The New York Times, 20 June 2008.
239. Dan Balz, "Embraced Overseas, But to What Effect?" The Washington Post, 27 July 2008.
240. Jonathan Weisman, "Obama's Symbolic Importance," The Washington Post, 30 July 2008.
241. Jeff Zeleny, "Going for That Presidential Look, but Trying Not to Overdo It," The New York Times, 27 July 2008.
242. McCain, Faith, 120.
243. Ibid., 131.
244. Cooper, "A McCain Confessional."
245. Timberg, American Odyssey, 197-198.
246. The most recent set of such soliloquies can be found in McCain, Worth Fighting For, xiii-xix.
247. Quoted in Cooper, "A McCain Confessional."
248. Quoted in David Whitford, "The evolution of John McCain," Fortune, 23 June 2008.
249. See McCain, Worth Fighting For, xv, for his annoyance at roll call votes.
250. Dan Nowicki and Bill Muller, "The Senate calls," Arizona Republic, 1 March 2007.