Kilroy2005: "I am a Democrat, but John McCain is the reason I am a registered Republican. Voted that way in the 2000 VA primary"

US News & World Report
5/23/05 - W. Whispers
McCain's TV Movie: It's Not an Ego Trip

If it were anybody but Sen. John McCain -- admired far and wide for sticking to his military family's code of honor as a Navy POW in Hanoi--you'd laugh at his guilelessness. What other White House hopeful could say that a new movie about his storied, pre-Senate life has nothing to do with pumping up his chances for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination?"I would hate," he says of the new A&E movie version of his book Faith of My Fathers, "[for it] to be thought of as some kind of vehicle for my political ambitions." Aye, aye, sir. The two-hour flick, debuting May 30, "is not just a story of me being beaten up and coming home," says the Arizona senator and former Navy pilot, who was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 and tortured in prison for over five years. "It's got a lot to do with the basis of my faith and my father's, the standards of honor and integrity, principles that were imbued in me by my father and grandfather," he adds.This isn't just any TV movie. It's a gripping tale featuring Scott Glenn of The Right Stuff and Backdraft, playing his father, and a youthful-looking Shawn Hatosy as McCain. "I used to look young for my age," McCain tells us.It's sure to spike his celebrity and draw fresh calls for a White House bid. But McCain shrugs. "It's all transient," he says. "If I were to walk down the street and say [Arizona Sen. and '64 presidential hopeful] 'Barry Goldwater,' at least three fourths of the people I stop would say, 'Who's he?'"