than he actually is lies with his handler who has groomed him since day one of McCain''s political career- Mark Salter.
Look it up. Salter invented McCain. He used the slacker, grafted bullshit around him and passed him off as a war hero with some amount of intelligence.
http://www.newsweek.com/mark-salter-mccains-closest-aide-92769
If the need arises and the range is close, Mark Salter will edit John McCain in midsentence. After 19 years at each other's side, neither man gives it a second thought. When a writer for The New Yorker was interviewing them last year about their latest best-selling book, the talk turned to hockey and the Arizona senator's admiration for Wayne Gretzky, who coaches the Phoenix Coyotes. "Wayne Gretzky is one of the all-time best American athletes!" McCain proclaimed. But even before his boss finished speaking, Salter had spotted a slip-up: the hockey legend is from Ontario. "Yes," Salter interjected, "Gretzky is one of the best American athletes … from Canada!"
But Salter does more than just edit his boss. He channels him—and the results can be amusingly pugnacious, befitting McCain's poke-'em-in-the-snoot style. Or not. In early 2006, McCain was in Europe when Barack Obama rescinded a private promise to join McCain's bipartisan crusade for campaign-finance reform. McCain got the disturbing word from Salter during one of their 10 daily phone calls. They quickly concluded the Democrat needed a sharp response. "Brush him back," McCain ordered. The resulting letter—written above McCain's signature, but not presented to him for a signoff—was so soaked in sarcasm and venom that it drew winces on Capitol Hill. "I guess I beaned him instead," Salter tells NEWSWEEK. McCain wasn't upset, Salter adds, smiling.
Mark Salter calls himself a "friend" to the presumptive GOP nominee, but that doesn't do their relationship justice. He's McCain's speechwriter, former Senate chief of staff, coauthor, biographer and closest adviser; amid the campaign's recent internal tensions, Salter's place at McCain's side has never been questioned. snip
Starting with "Faith of My Fathers" in 1999, Salter set about unpacking the life of a man who was the son of admirals and a Vietnam POW. From that success, they moved on to books about courage, leadership and decision-making. "Salter took the raw talent that was John McCain and deepened and molded it," says Clarke. "He allowed McCain to find his own voice." That skill is central to Salter's influence, but not the sum of it. His precise role now isn't easily definable, but no major move is made without his input. "I guess I'm 'of counsel'," Salter says with a shrug.
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Salter's task now is to sell his action-figure hero. Voters have grown wary of warrior presidents in the wake of George W. Bush's handling of the Iraq War. And they are more and more focused on domestic issues, such as the economy, which they say Obama would handle better. Salter's writing style can seem orotund and antique to younger ears. For all the elegance of the books, McCain's speeches are delivered stiffly at best. When Salter is not at his elbow, and sometimes even if he is, McCain is apt to mention, say, a country (Czechoslovakia) that ceased to exist 15 years ago. The campaign's seeming inability to stage a riveting visual event led "The Colbert Report" to invite viewers to submit mash-up videos that make McCain look "lively."
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