Buzz Books

McCain’s tour

First there were the police and their bomb-sniffing dogs. Next came the Secret Service agents with their weird, curlicue earpieces. Then a small army of rent-a-cops--all of them arriving hours before Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was scheduled to sign copies of his latest memoir, “Worth the Fighting For,” at Borders Books in Torrance.

It was a lot of excitement for a bookstore, especially on a Friday night, but with audiences as large as 1,300 at previous stops on McCain’s tour, his handlers were prepared. Extra Borders staff were on hand to herd the crowd, and the signing area -- set up between a CD rack and a display of 2003 calendars--was cordoned off with strips of yellow “caution” tape.

An hour before the reading, an ethnically and age-diverse group was already forming to meet the maverick Republican senator, who survived 5 1/2 years as a North Vietnamese prisoner of war in the late ‘60s and who campaigned to be president three years ago.

Brandon Woodard was among those in line. Clutching a paperback copy of McCain’s 1999 memoir, “Faith of My Fathers,” the 26-year-old Torrance resident is a Democrat but likes McCain for his honesty and “courage to go with the unpopular thing.” Jorge Hernandez, a 31-year-old Republican from Santa Barbara, had bought both books for the senator to sign. He’s a fan because of McCain’s willingness to “fight for a purpose beyond self-interest.” Three days after the election, the line was buzzing with political talk as fans waited for McCain to arrive. The politics were scheduled to continue with a 15-minute Q&A; once the senator took the stage, but McCain opted out on the questions, choosing instead to immediately begin signing.

He’d barely taken a seat when a woman, standing behind the yellow tape, yelled, “Senator McCain. Will the man once known as the Manchurian Candidate talk about his links to organized crime?”

Booed by the crowd, she was asked to leave by the Borders staff, and the signing continued without incident as hundreds of fans streamed up to the stage one by one to offer their commendation and support.

“I hope you run for president again.”

“Congrats on getting the majority.”

“I loved you on ‘Saturday Night Live.’ ”

-- Susan Carpenter