POLITICIANS, NOT WELL-MEANING SAINTS.(MAIN)

Byline: MATTHEW MILLER

He first sought political office because he needed the steady paycheck. For years his answer to the slavery question was to send the slaves to Africa. He suddenly grew a beard after getting elected in an attempt to look more seasoned. On important matters of state, he boasted that ``my policy is to have no policy.''

His name, of course, was Abraham Lincoln, and he had other fine qualities as well. As John McCain explodes on the covers of newsweeklies and across every TV channel, however, the difference between the real Lincoln and the one enshrined in civic myth offers some tonic for the ``authenticity'' craze helping fuel the McCain …