BTW - the media's motto is a quote from Emerson:

Did you read Eric Alterman and George Zornick's article Loving John McCain

They nail exactly what you are referring to...

We've enjoyed him on The Daily Show, admired his courage in Vietnam and imagine we understand his appeal. Perhaps if we had all spent more time hanging, we would appreciate the senator's company, his hospitality and his eagerness to speak his mind in our presence as so much of the MSM has. It is even possible that we would call him John when speaking with him. And let's be honest, we cannot be certain that, were he still running against George W. Bush, we would not fall into the habit of referring to the McCain campaign as "we"--as in, "I hope we kill Bush"--which apparently happened with some frequency during McCain's unsuccessful 2000 run.

But even though we might be taken with McCain personally, we would like to think that we would resist the urge to offer the sort of spontaneous testimonials to his character that have gushed from the pens of so many MSM journalists. These would include calling McCain "a cool dude" (Jake Tapper, Salon); "an original, imaginative, and at times inspiring candidate" (Jacob Weisberg, Slate); "a man of unshakable character, willing to stand up for his convictions" (the late R.W. Apple Jr., New York Times); "a man of intelligence, honor and enormous personal and political courage"

He may be a swell guy but he has shown himself to be more than willing to kowtow to whomever will get him elected.  

John McCain is, above all else, a survivor.  Survivors do what they need to do to survive, and worry about the details later.  Survivors are not automatically "heroes."  The mentality that got McCain through his years as a POW is the same one that got him through cancer and the same one that is getting him through this campaign.

What he has, that Obama does not seem to have, is toughness and a willingness to fight; neither of those qualities make him by extension a person of character or integrity - but it does mean that he doesn't give up.

I think it's possible to have character and integrity and fight for what you believe in, but neither of these candidates is the complete package.  

As I said, I don't in the least dispute that McCain has pandered on all kinds of issues.

I pointed to another fact though: that at least on some issues, he genuinely took a principled stand, campaign finance reform, for example.

As I said, that rather meager amount of independence already sets him apart from the pols are pols crowd.

Where's the like from Obama?

Senator McCain Condemns Torture -- But Votes Against the Bill That Would Prevent It

In that story, it says that it concerns this bill (incorrectly inked in the story): H.R. 2082 (Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008)  

That story (on Balkinization) states this:

By contrast, Senator Clinton supports the Feinstein amendment, and [UPDATED] Senator Obama does, too (see Answer No. 7).

Yet, if you look at who voted that day, neither Obama or Clinton showed up to vote...??

Can't even begin to see an argument that, between the two, Obama is the one who's displayed more character, more strength of conviction to principles, throughout his political life.