Citizen McCainSince John McCain became the clear leader for the Republican presidential nomination, Citizen McCain by prize-winning journalist Elizabeth Drew, published in 2002, has been reprinted. Drew has been the author of many political books, professor, host of a PBS series, and Washington correspondent for Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker. It is significant to note that she was a panelist in the first 1976 Presidential debate, was moderator of the debate between the Democratic candidates for the nomination in the 1984 race, and wrote Citizen McCain as an unauthorized biography, although she was given access to McCain and his staff. She is a journalist of integrity who came to admire the candidate rather than an author who set out to produce a gushing view of him.
Much of the book is devoted to McCain’s fight for campaign reform. He is quoted as saying in 2001, “They’re without shame. I’m talking about members of Congress, not the lobbyists, who are doing what they’re paid to do. It’s the system that makes good people do bad things because of the corrupting influence of money. . .” (p.166)
But McCain was at his best after September 11. Drew details his receiving more requests to speak than President Bush and gives many quotes from McCain, such as this one on the Tonight Show when Jay Leno asked, “What can normal people do to help?”:
“Live a normal life. Their goal, their object, is to destroy the American way of life. The best way to defeat that is to not let them do that. We’ll have our freedoms, we’ll have our independence, we’ll have our disagreements. If you were planning on traveling, travel. If you were planning on buying something, buy it. Young people, if you were thinking about joining the armed forces, think about it. Young people, volunteer in your community. There is a lot to be done now. Give blood. Do what we see all over, do what I saw from my car on the way here tonight, and what I see all over Arizona: Fly the flag. Fly it proudly.” (p.142)
Citizen McCain is shelved in the Stacks on the top floor of the Library, call number E840.8 M26 D74 2002
Much of the book is devoted to McCain’s fight for campaign reform. He is quoted as saying in 2001, “They’re without shame. I’m talking about members of Congress, not the lobbyists, who are doing what they’re paid to do. It’s the system that makes good people do bad things because of the corrupting influence of money. . .” (p.166)
But McCain was at his best after September 11. Drew details his receiving more requests to speak than President Bush and gives many quotes from McCain, such as this one on the Tonight Show when Jay Leno asked, “What can normal people do to help?”:
“Live a normal life. Their goal, their object, is to destroy the American way of life. The best way to defeat that is to not let them do that. We’ll have our freedoms, we’ll have our independence, we’ll have our disagreements. If you were planning on traveling, travel. If you were planning on buying something, buy it. Young people, if you were thinking about joining the armed forces, think about it. Young people, volunteer in your community. There is a lot to be done now. Give blood. Do what we see all over, do what I saw from my car on the way here tonight, and what I see all over Arizona: Fly the flag. Fly it proudly.” (p.142)
Citizen McCain is shelved in the Stacks on the top floor of the Library, call number E840.8 M26 D74 2002
A book review of Hopes and Dreams: The Story of Barack Obama was published last week.
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