Huffington Magazine Issue 42 | Page 48

AP PHOTO/MANUEL BALCE CENETA AGING BULL ers, obviously, I say yeah.” Many conservatives will see McCain’s eagerness to work with Democrats as more evidence that he is not really one of them. Others will think he is just trying to get back in the good graces of establishment Washington after a few years in the wilderness. “We’re misreading John McCain,” said Steve Clemons, Washington editor-at-large for The Atlantic. “He is not out there trying to relaunch himself and become a warmer and fuzzier version of a John McCain that became cranky and difficult. “I think he is just someone who is complex,” Clemons said. It’s most likely that McCain’s obvious distaste for being thought of as a partisan stems from his view that it is less honorable than being a principled and independent actor. McCain wrote in his 2000 book, Faith of My Fathers that his father and grandfather — both of them fourstar admirals in the U.S. Navy — “were not men of spotless virtue, but they were honest, brave and loyal all their lives.” Earning their respect, he wrote, was “the most lasting ambition of my life.” HUFFINGTON 03.31.13 SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-D.C.) Nowhere is McCain’s unique political role more clearly illustrated than in the current immigration fight. He may not be able to win over grassroots voters in the same way as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the 41-year-old star politician who has wowed fans and critics with his successful outreach to the GOP base on the issue. McCain, by contrast, is likely to turn off more conservatives than he brings on board, and his 2008 run has made him a more partisan figure in the eyes of many Sen. Marco Rubio at a news conference for a balanced budget proposal in 2011.