re: Adding up McCain's words to find a pattern
As I said some time back, McCain has contradicted himself so many times over the years that I think it would be quite possible to edit the video clips together in such a way that he would appear to be debating with himself.
He's partly a typical politician who's wants solutions to fashionable problems whether or not the problems need solving or the solutions better the world; partly a man with a masculine ethic of honor and avenging insults in his personal life and in world affairs; and partly a typical modern who derives esteem from scorning his own and embracing the opposition.