The NY Times has an article out as part of a series about the Presidential Candidates. This article is a factual account of what motivated John McCain to turn down an Admiral's star and go into politics.

I thought a couple of interesting sidelights to the article are these.

First, McCain's tutelege on national defense issues included two Democratic mentors--Scoop Jackson of Washington and Gary Hart of Colorado.

Second, the article soft pedals this somewhat, but at one time the Senate (and may still be, but if so is much more discrete about it) was a very hard charging, liqour consuming away from home kind of group. (Sort of reminds me of the Army I joined back in the early '70s.) McCain fit right in. Provides an interesting contrast with the current climate and the need to appear pious and restrained for the faithful.

Here's a link to the article entitled, "The Long Run--Taste of Senate Set Captain McCain on a New Path".

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/us/politics/30mccain.html?pagewanted=4&_r=1&th&emc=th&adxnnlx=1212516586-gwj3k6ErHCqo31z4fEPneQ