The LA Times finishes a two-part series today on John McCain's transition from Vietnam vet to US Senator. The most interesting parts are those detailing how impressed high-ranking politicians were by the war hero:
He enthralled them with tales of his captivity in Hanoi...Soon the old bulls were maneuvering to sit next to the young captain on long flights...Indeed, the senators may have been more awed by McCain than McCain was by them...Part of McCain's allure was not only his life story, but his willingness to tell it. He seemed to have emerged from years of torture with a broken body but a strong psyche, willing to relate hellish memories other POWs struggled to forget. ..But McCain's stature extended beyond resident storyteller. Senators sought his advice on the intricacies of aviation and how the Navy operated.
Not only did McCain learn early on in his career that militarism pays off, but because McCain was a genuine war hero, people also thought he would be a wise foreign policy decision-maker. McCain instantly had "national security credentials" beyond his actual experience. The media has largely followed along with this narrative, portraying McCain as being strong on foreign policy despite his being wrong about nearly everything in the past 10 years. It's very difficult to uncouple military heroism from strategic acumen--nobody wants to imply that McCain was anything but amazingly courageous in Vietnam. But the two qualities aren't the same, and at some point the Democrats are going to have to engage in deft diplomacy to dispel the notion that they are.
--Jordan Michael Smith
