Letters to the Editor
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McCain's Narrative: Don't Give an Inch
For Arizonans, the "tragically lost" and "principled" McCain of 2000 has always been a fact-free myth. His "selling out" is nothing new, and his "moderation" also a myth.
Granting the premise that McCain has changed from his "good old self" and has become a hardened, steely warmonger plays into the narrative that's always kept him popular in national politics -- that his "moderation" appeals to independents. This has been the chatter from the national media since 2000 about McCain, all the while his policies have been militaristic Hard Right, except for immigration, campaign finance reform, and how he avoids espousing fundamentalist Christian theology (but still maintains a Likud-style approach to Israel, which is good enough for the eschatologists).
Clearly, McCain is running as a strongman, hoping the all-white, all-moneyed, and nearly-all-Christian GOP can pull out one more election before overwhelming demographic changes erase the sentimentality for the faux-halcyon days of the 1950s Baby Boom era.