Huffington Magazine Issue 42 | Page 42

AP PHOTO/CHARLES DHARAPAK AGING BULL from despair in the months following the 2008 election. “After I lost in 2008, I really, I knew the best cure and the only cure is to get busy, and put it behind you. When you sit around and mope, I mean, it’s a very destructive exercise,” McCain said, his left leg propped up on the coffee table in his Senate office. “So I tried to stay in the game.” ‘THAT ANGRY OLD WHITE GUY’ To many, McCain’s reputation as a maverick, willing to cross party lines on issues such as immigration reform and campaign finance, took a hit after his contortions during his presidential run, and then two years later in his Senate reelection campaign. In 2008, McCain veered to the right with his selection of Palin as his running mate. He was made unavailable to the press, and the image of him as a happy-go-lucky McCain and his adviser Mark Salter during a walk-through at the RNC in 2008.