McCain Aide Mark Salter is believed to be the author of a book called O: A Presidential Novel, (anonymously) and an angry LA Times reviewer named Tim Rutten, seems to have included a made-up quote, or worse, a plagiarized made-up quote.

You can find out more details than you need about this kind of mini-scandal here: L.A. Times reviewer may find himself in hot water over fictional McCain aide quote, [By Will Rahn, The Daily Caller March 1, 2011], but what struck me was this, from the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg:Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, who wrote

"In fact, given that O seems to have been written by a McCain operative, its lack of obvious pro-Republican bias is noticeable."

Yes, well, I think if it had been written by McCain himself, its lack of pro-Republican bias would be even more noticeable. Remember,  McCain is a "maverick"—a man with no  trace of loyalty to either the Republican Party or his Arizona constituents, who practically threw the 2008 election to avoid looking racist.

I wrote in 2006 that

"McCain will always put John McCain ahead of party loyalty—I mean, looking ahead to a McCain presidency, can you say for sure which party’s ticket he’ll be elected on?"

Fortunately, the answer is "none"—but you can see why one of his aides, writing anonymously, wouldn't give himself away by being obviously Republican.