John McCain, as a famous Senator from Arizona, had gotten a lot of mileage from his five-year internment in a Vietnamese prisoner of war (POW) camp; rather than the more realistic portrayal of him as a pure victim, the slick pr machine he had cultivated was able to spin him into a full-blown hero. More often than not, McCain was successful in co-opting the press with what would be a somewhat blind quest for political glory. His critics opined he never met a camera he didn?t like or headline-grabbing issue he wasn't prepared to sell himself to. But he had followers, particularly among the media, which was willing to disregard the fact that despite his public stance for campaign finance reform, McCain was one of the great abusers of the process; actually, he was among the disgraced people in the "Keating Five," which doled out political influence in return for hefty contributions and financial favors.
Though he'd been labeled a chaussure de foot mercurial "maverick" by the majority of the press corps, McCain was hardly that; rather, he was he was a very calculating political animal who often saw which way the wind was blowing and hurled himself - with sycophantic media grasping on to his boots - for the reason that direction.
McCain purported to be a lifelong boxing fan, and claimed to be a boxer of some note in the Naval Academy, where he gained admission as a "legacy" (his father was an alumnus) and graduated close to the bottom of his class. He favored legislation to bring about some federal charge of boxing and would later spearhead efforts to pass through more extensive bills for the reason that quest. He was quite fond of accepting free tickets from the very promoters his legislation might have regulatory authority over. Coincidentally, these gifts and gratuities often landed him ringside, in camera view, throughout an HBO or Showtime telecast.
Right from the start, there was going to be some establishment resistance to mma. The sport, with its absence of structured rules, didn't squeeze into the regulations which were organized by the athletic commissions across the country. In fact, most of the regulatory people didn?t understand it, and therefore was clueless that how you can classify it. It certainly wasn?t boxing, which used hands only, or kick boxing, which allowed for kicks and that was sanctioned in some states. Also it most definitely was not a "worked" sport like professional wrestling, that also fell underneath the jurisdiction of some of the athletic commissions.
Plus, there is not necessarily enough chaussure de foot magista mma activity going on for the states to take the break to draft rules and regulations for it. If there was the potential of only a couple of events per year, why would they go through the process of engaging commission attorneys to draw up a brand new algorithm, or approach the state legislature with a bill to be passed, in order to accommodate it?
Besides, there was a growing - and influential - constituency of people who looked upon mixed martial arts as "barbarism" and "bloodsport." Many of these people used an expression that was a standard for cheap shots as time progressed - "human cock fighting."
When you have pervading mainstream attitudes such as chaussure de foot mercurial this, the atmosphere is ripe for political opportunity. And affirmed, from the rubble emerged among the great political opportunists of recent years.