John McCain is one of the most familiar, sympathetic, and overexposed figures in American politics, yet his concrete governing philosophy and actual track record have been left curiously unexamined. This is in no small part due to the dazzling distractions in his life story, but also because of his ingenious strategy of talking ad infinitum to anyone who was interested in listening. The more he has spouted, the fewer people have bothered trying to see through the fog. In McCain, journalist and pundit Matt Welch gives us what we've always wanted but can't find - a flesh-and-bones political portrait of a man onto whom people are forever projecting their own ideological fantasies. Welch provides the key for decoding McCain's allegedly 'maverick' actions, and the first realistic assessment of what a John McCain presidency may look like. McCain quickly lays out in overlapping detail the root cause of the senator's worldview: his personal transformation from spoiled, underachieving punk to war hawk coattail rider. As McCain wrenches himself inside-out in pursuit of the prize that eluded him in 2000, Matt Welch takes an investigative look behind the war hero, behind the maverick reformer, behind the man who could be president to reveal to Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike an unbiased picture of the 'straight talking' Maverick. It is time we knew the real McCain.