Michael Crowley profiles
McCain speechwriter Mark Salter, the "high priest of the McCain cult," and
explains how Salter is the dominant force in creating the "McCain code":
Almost nine years later, Salter is
still McCain's chief wordsmith as well as a top campaign operative and, for all
practical purposes, McCain's brain. Indeed, he is the one senior aide to have
survived McCain's multiple campaign staff shakeups. "Salter's just spent
so much time with McCain that I don't know if McCain's figured out Salter or
Salter's figured out McCain," says former McCain media adviser Mark
McKinnon. Another person friendly with both men calls it a "mind
meld." But Salter not only channels McCain better than anyone. He has also
demonstrated a one-of-a-kind instinct for how to craft McCain's public image.
Over the years, he has taken the raw material of McCain's biography and
temperament and turned it into a compelling narrative that supersedes
politics--one about an independent-minded war hero who celebrates courage and
humility, demands individual sacrifice, and excoriates vanity.
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