The media who ride on the bus with McCain love him. The Senators who work with him -- Republican Senators -- don't. They know "the darker aspects":
Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, who is also officially neutral, predicts that McCain would at least act less rebellious in dealing with members of his own party. “When you’re president, it’s a different thing,” said Roberts. “You’re not Crusader Rabbit. You’re the president.”
And John Cornyn , the other Texas senator, laughed and offered only this: “It’ll be interesting, won’t it?” He knows that much from experience. During last year’s debate over an immigration policy overhaul, which McCain was pushing and Cornyn opposed, the two got into a heated argument in which McCain shouted obscenities at him. The incident encapsulates the well-known darker aspects of McCain’s style that — as much as his maverick streak on policy — have distanced him from so many in the normally collegial Senate. Many of his colleagues find him self-righteous, dogmatic, unpredictable and hot-tempered — especially when he’s crossed, and even with the Republicans who are usually his allies.
Can McCain keep his cool when the pressure is really on? McCain's own colleagues, again his GOP colleagues, make him sound unbalanced. And, they know him and his temper.
