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Often, people wouldn't call back at all. Although he has plenty of harsh comments for McCain in his book, Barry Goldwater Jr. never could be reached for comment.

Some I tried to talk to were apologetic about not being able to spill. They work for ASU or the governor or a conservative think tank or a liberal think tank or they lobby Congress. Or, like John Hinz, the one-time executive director of the Arizona Republican Party, who recounted some tales of the senator's temper for the Washington Post this spring, they've gotten the message that it's not a good idea to say anything negative about McCain.

Photo by Jamie Peachey; McCain illustrations by Kyle T. Webster
New Times' one-of-a-kind McCain nesting dolls, from left: presidential, maverick, Arizonan, POW, angry.
Photo by Jamie Peachey; McCain illustrations by Kyle T. Webster
New Times' one-of-a-kind McCain nesting dolls, from left: presidential, maverick, Arizonan, POW, angry.

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VINTAGE McCAIN
Long before he landed on the national stage, John McCain was front and center in Arizona politics — and New Times was publishing stories about him. For an in-depth look at McCain’s relationship with Charlie Keating, his continued favors from special interests, and the family history of his wife, Cindy, not to mention the history of her drug addiction, check out “Vintage McCain.”

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It's hard to keep track of the shifting alliances. Paul Johnson, former mayor of Phoenix, who spent much of the early 1990s publicly loathing the senator, is now a Democrat for McCain. But lobbyist Knox Kimberly, who once ran McCain's local congressional office, is a big Barack Obama supporter.

Grant Woods, McCain's first chief of staff, was very close friends with McCain, until a public falling out in the early '90s, when the senator shunned him for investigating his pal, Fife Symington.

Now Woods is back in the McCain camp. He was at the Biltmore on election night. I saw him from across the room. He didn't return my call for this story.

Nor did anybody representing McCain get back to me after I contacted his campaign for this article.

Maybe some of the dreariness of the Biltmore event could be blamed on the large area roped off for the national press — a group of sad-looking, credentialed folks who could clearly suck the life out of any room. Tucker Carlson stood watching the action, arms crossed, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

Postmodern McCain is just not as much fun as his predecessor, the straight-ahead, shit-talking bad guy.

Watching him up on the stage, struggling with the teleprompter, Cindy looking miserable next to him, I almost pitied the GOP's presumptive nominee. No more nasty jokes, no public outbursts. He's reduced to talking about climate change and accusing Obama of being the media's flavor of the day.

"Don't feel sorry for him," a friend said. "The guy might wind up president."

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