McCain in the Mud - In 2000, I boarded John McCain's campaign bus ... (Richard Cohen/Washington Post)

Richard Cohen / Washington Post:McCain in the Mud  —  In 2000, I boarded John McCain's campaign bus, the Straight Talk Express, and, in a metaphorical sense, never got off.  Here, truly, was something new under the political sun — a politician who bristled with integrity and seemed to have nothing to hide.