# Why has John McCain turned into such a cranky old man? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 3, 2013, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211 "2013-02-03T12:15:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/21 "2013-02-03T20:48:49Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > McCain has ALWAYS been that way. Ask anyone in DC - most have a McCain story to tell. > > He just doesn’t hide it as well any more. My wife used to work on Capitol Hill with a group representing American Indian interests. She had some interaction with McCain (directly and/or through his staff). She appreciated that he was usually receptive to assistance for native tribes, which I guess makes sense given his being from the southwest, but thought even then that he was a cranky sumbitch. And this was while he was being on “her side”. But I assume 2008 brought out the worst of it with the perception that his media darlings had turned against him and his chance in line was undercut by some celebrity young buck. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/22 "2013-02-04T06:53:52Z")
> [@Spiff](#): > > Cherry-pick much? If you’ve got a better counter-example from the 2008 campaign, I’d love to hear it. > [@Lobohan](#): > > He didn’t stop Carabou-Rose from pulling out shit like, “Pallin’ around with terrorists.” > > Maybe he couldn’t, but that just makes his judgement look even worse. I agree that his selection of Sarah Palin was appalling. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/23 "2013-02-04T07:48:17Z")
Dude spent about a decade as a POW in Hanoi; that would leave practically anybody cranky for the rest of his life. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/24 "2013-02-04T14:40:44Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > McCain was a young douchebag, entitled jock. He was the bad guy from every '80s college movie. His dad the Admiral made his life pretty plush. > > Then he got captured, tortured, released and grew old. I don’t doubt that being in those conditions added a twist of humility and perspective. But inside, he’s still a piece of shit. Look at his questioning of Hagel, his friend. Think about his months long tantrum about Rice and Benghazi. Former friend. They disagreed about something about six years ago. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/25 "2013-02-04T14:50:25Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Dude spent about a decade as a POW in Hanoi; that would leave practically anybody cranky for the rest of his life. Actually, people like to say that in DC, but it backfired when he went and got a mental health exam when he ran for president, and was declared perfectly healthy. He’s not a dick because he was in a bamboo cage - he’s just a dick because he’s a dick. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/26 "2013-02-04T14:52:06Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > My wife used to work on Capitol Hill with a group representing American Indian interests. BTW, it sounds like your wife was a lobbyist. You know those people are pure evil, right? How did she sleep at night, working for those rich corporate Indians? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/27 "2013-02-04T15:02:12Z")
Simple answer- his natural disposition is terrible and he really isn’t a very nice person. As a Navy pilot, he wasn’t particularly good at it and demanded special treatment because he was the son of an admiral. Sure, he was a POW. Sure, it was hellish, but [not quite as hellish as he wants you to think:](http://www.alternet.org/story/95825/i_spent_years_as_a_pow_with_john_mccain,_and_his_finger_should_not_be_near_the_red_button) > [@](#): > > Was he tortured for 5 years? No. He was subjected to torture and maltreatment during his first 2 years, from September of 1967 to September of 1969. After September of 1969 the Vietnamese stopped the torture and gave us increased food and rudimentary health care. Several hundred of us were captured much earlier. I got there April 20, 1965 so my bad treatment period lasted 4 1/2 years. President Ho Chi Minh died on September 9, 1969, and the new regime that replaced him and his policies was more pragmatic. They realized we were worth a lot as bargaining chips if we were alive. And they were right because eventually Americans gave up on the war and agreed to trade our POW’s for their country. A damn good trade in my opinion! But my point here is that John allows the media to make him out to be THE hero POW, which he knows is absolutely not true, to further his political goals. So what did he do after the war? Return to the loyal wife who waited for him, who got into an accident that left her crippled and disfigured? Nope- he had an affair and got himself a new trophy wife, discarding his first wife like yesterday’s newspaper. Yes, it was a good moment in the 2008 campaign when he corrected that silly old twat who thought Obama was “an Arab”. Sure, he declined to use Jeremiah Wright as a campaign issue. But he lost because he ran a terrible campaign and was clueless about the economy. Rather than accept defeat with grace, he seems to live for moments when he can ridicule and sabotage Obama. “The Surge” has for him become an obsession- anyone who opposed it is unfit for office in his eyes. McCain has had his time in the sun. It’s time for him to pack it in. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/28 "2013-02-04T15:28:19Z")
It sounds like he’s been a miserable person in DC for years. He was always charming and personable on TV, though (Meet the Press, SNL, etc), which makes his crankiness something of a surprise to people that just thought of him as this charming moderate who wasn’t afraid to take on members of his own party. But now that there’s no longer any chance of ever being president, who needs to be fucking charming in front of the cameras anymore? ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/29 "2013-02-04T15:43:16Z")
> [@Spiff](#): > > Cherry-pick much? Please show us this “hate-filled campaign” against Obama that McCain waged. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/30 "2013-02-04T16:03:14Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Please show us this “hate-filled campaign” against Obama that McCain waged. I found this: > **[Poll Says McCain Is Hurting His Bid by Using Attacks (Published 2008)](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/15/us/politics/15poll.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)** > > If the election were held today, 53 percent of voters would vote for Barack Obama and 39 percent would vote for John McCain, according to a Times/CBS News poll. > [@](#): > > The McCain campaign’s recent angry tone and sharply personal attacks on Senator Barack Obama appear to have backfired and tarnished Senator John McCain more than their intended target, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll has found. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/31 "2013-02-04T17:04:30Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Sure, he was a POW. Sure, it was hellish, but [not quite as hellish as he wants you to think:](http://www.alternet.org/story/95825/i_spent_years_as_a_pow_with_john_mccain,_and_his_finger_should_not_be_near_the_red_button) I don’t really think that signifies. Two years of torture is probably not appreciably better than four. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/32 "2013-02-04T18:50:17Z")
Today McCain called Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a monkey. That probably wasn’t a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/33 "2013-02-04T19:05:01Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Today McCain called Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a monkey. That probably wasn’t a good idea. Definitely. He’ll never pick up any more votes from monkeys after an insult like that. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/34 "2013-02-04T19:24:30Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Definitely. He’ll never pick up any more votes from monkeys after an insult like that. Who, Ahmadinejad? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/35 "2013-02-04T21:12:45Z")
he’s turned into a shit flinging monkey himself. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/36 "2013-02-04T22:21:41Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > McCain has ALWAYS been that way. Ask anyone in DC - most have a McCain story to tell. > > He just doesn’t hide it as well any more. When I saw the thread title that’s the answer that came into my mind as most likely. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/37 "2013-02-05T19:45:12Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Definitely. He’ll never pick up any more votes from monkeys after an insult like that. [shrug] McCain swept the monkey-vote in 2008; it just wasn’t enough. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/38 "2013-02-05T19:51:20Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [shrug] McCain swept the monkey-vote in 2008; it just wasn’t enough. He probably did sweep the ‘if evolution is real why are there still monkeys?’ vote. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/39 "2013-02-05T20:08:07Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > He probably did sweep the ‘if evolution is real why are there still monkeys?’ vote. Some of them still found him too cranky and didn’t show up at the polls. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211/40 "2013-02-06T08:37:07Z")
He’s known for his reputation for holding a grudge, and his grudge against the junior “upstart” who leaped over him to become president is deep and seething. [John McCain’s sad, bitter twilight](http://www.salon.com/2013/02/02/the_bitter_twilight_of_john_mccain_partner/) "‘That one,’ John McCain famously snarled in a presidential debate four years ago, referring to his opponent, who was a quarter of a century younger than McCain and who had been in the Senate 3 years to McCain’s 20. It’s difficult to imagine a better revelation of the McCain psyche than that moment, but if there is one, then it came yesterday at the meeting of the Senate Armed Services Committee, convened to consider the nomination of Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense. The McCain fury is something to behold, almost irresistible for how unvarnished it is in all its forms. In the instance of the 2008 debate, McCain’s dumbfounded antipathy had to do with facing an opponent he so clearly considered unworthy. … “… two things have happened to McCain. One was the Iraq War, the worst American foreign policy blunder of the post–World War II era, which McCain wholeheartedly supported from the beginning and about which he’s never intimated a second thought. The other was Barack Obama, electoral politics’ upstart lieutenant whose bid to become five-star general, bypassing stops along the way at captain, major and colonel, wasn’t just temerity to a man who waited his turn to be released from prison, but insubordination.” [Remember Obama v. McCain](http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2008/01/08/4432992-remember-obama-v-mccain?lite) “If the headlines out of New Hampshire are ‘Obama, McCain,’ it is interesting to remember the letter McCain sent to Obama two years ago back on Feb. 6, 2006 (and which he posted on his Web site) while working on the lobbying reform bill. It had some pretty strong language which you can read again below. …” Dear Senator Obama: ``` I would like to apologize to you for assuming that your private assurances to me regarding your desire to cooperate in our efforts to negotiate bipartisan lobbying reform legislation were sincere. When you approached me and insisted that despite your leadership's preference to use the issue to gain a political advantage in the 2006 elections, you were personally committed to achieving a result that would reflect credit on the entire Senate and offer the country a better example of political leadership, I concluded your professed concern for the institution and the public interest was genuine and admirable. Thank you for disabusing me of such notions with your letter to me dated February 2, 2006, which explained your decision to withdraw from our bipartisan discussions. I'm embarrassed to admit that after all these years in politics I failed to interpret your previous assurances as typical rhetorical gloss routinely used in politics to make self-interested partisan posturing appear more noble. Again, sorry for the confusion, but please be assured I won't make the same mistake again. As you know, the Majority Leader has asked Chairman Collins to hold hearings and mark up a bill for floor consideration in early March. I fully support such timely action and I am confident that, together with Senator Lieberman, the Committee on Governmental Affairs will report out a meaningful, bipartisan bill. You commented in your letter about my "interest in creating a task force to further study" this issue, as if to suggest I support delaying the consideration of much-needed reforms rather than allowing the committees of jurisdiction to hold hearings on the matter. Nothing could be further from the truth. The timely findings of a bipartisan working group could be very helpful to the committee in formulating legislation that will be reported to the full Senate. Since you are new to the Senate, you may not be aware of the fact that I have always supported fully the regular committee and legislative process in the Senate, and routinely urge Committee Chairmen to hold hearings on important issues. In fact, I urged Senator Collins to schedule a hearing upon the Senate's return in January. Furthermore, I have consistently maintained that any lobbying reform proposal be bipartisan. The bill Senators Joe Lieberman and Bill Nelson and I have introduced is evidence of that commitment as is my insistence that members of both parties be included in meetings to develop the legislation that will ultimately be considered on the Senate floor. As I explained in a recent letter to Senator Reid, and have publicly said many times, the American people do not see this as just a Republican problem or just a Democratic problem. They see it as yet another run-of-the-mill Washington scandal, and they expect it will generate just another round of partisan gamesmanship and posturing. Senator Lieberman and I, and many other members of this body, hope to exceed the public's low expectations. We view this as an opportunity to bring transparency and accountability to the Congress, and, most importantly, to show the public that both parties will work together to address our failings. As I noted, I initially believed you shared that goal. But I understand how important the opportunity to lead your party's effort to exploit this issue must seem to a freshman Senator, and I hold no hard feelings over your earlier disingenuousness. Again, I have been around long enough to appreciate that in politics the public interest isn't always a priority for every one of us. Good luck to you, Senator. ``` Sincerely, John McCain United States Senate Then-Senator Obama’s letter that garnered this contemptuous screed, as well as his reply to this one, are at the link. I don’t know how he held his temper. But having read this exchange, I had no doubt — regardless of the politics — which candidate was suited to the job of Leader of the Free World and which one should never be allowed anywhere near it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-john-mccain-turned-into-such-a-cranky-old-man/649211.md?page=3)